Hello,

I have only found addresses to be added to /etc/apt/sources.list that appear to track something called 'Blackdown Java'. Can anyone point me to documentation where it is explained what is the difference between Sun's java and this 'Blackdown Java' that Debian appears to prefer.

Also, could someone inform me why the version of this 'Blackdown Java' is usually behind Sun's java? I know that Sun publishes its latest java natively for Linux. Why Debian doesn't use these Sun packages? Can someone please explain me what's going on here?

The two main areas where I've found Debian lacking are the XFree86 version and java. In most other respects I like Debian like a dog likes a bone. I'm just wondering why these two areas seem to lag behind. Perhaps some Debian guru can provide me with some answers concerning these issues?

Because of licensing issues.

I have written instructions for how one can install Sun's Java Runtime Environment or Software Development Kit fairly easily through apt-get/dpkg:
http://serios.net/content/debian/java.php

Thanks for providing these links dastrike. They answer most of the questions that I had. I haven't yet made up my mind about the licence issues but this sure gives me something to think about.

What about the xfree86 issue? I'm running the latest version of xfree86 with no problems. What is the issue you are having problems with concerning xfree86?

The newest XFree86 is 4.4, but with it comes a new license that is not compatible with GPL. So like Java, there will not be any official packages at least for now.

the simple solution is always to install it manually
sun.com
ibm.com
blackdown.org

The main problem with the manual installation is all the messing around with the PATH environment variable and/or a lot of manual symlink creation, and the longterm maintenance of them.