A More FHS-Compliant JDK Install

[Dr Andrew John Hughes]

On 11:48 Tue 04 Jan     , Andrew Haley wrote:
> On 01/03/2011 03:09 AM, Lussier, Denis wrote:
> > I too like the idea that the version of OpenJDK that comes pre-built with
> > your Linux distro is pre-installed and just works.  But... I wonder how/if
> > the Linux Distro's will configure simultaneously with JDK6&  JDK7 when they
> > are both mainstream.
> 
> Hopefully, the usual Java backwards compatibility will be maintained,
> so mostly it won't matter.  However, the packages may be installed
> side-by-side, with a symlink for the global default.  Like this example
> from Fedora 13:
> 
> /usr/bin/java -->
> /etc/alternatives/java -->
> /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.6.0-openjdk-1.6.0.0.x86_64/jre/bin/java
> 
> I can't yet comment on whether distros will choose to allow multiple
> JDKs, though: just that there is no strong technical reason that
> forbids it.
> 
> Andrew.

IME, most distributions already have at least two JDKs: gcj and IcedTea6/OpenJDK6.
Adding IcedTea7/OpenJDK7 to the pile wouldn't be any different, just more work
to support.  I foresee both being provided for a while until 7 really takes off.

I'd also like to see 7 start being made available as distro packages once it branches
away and mainstream development moves to 8.  There's an opportunity there for a lot more
testing than was seen through the previous proprietary release preparation process.
-- 
Andrew :)

Free Java Software Engineer
Red Hat, Inc. (http://www.redhat.com)

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