Offical Java package in 14.0?
 

Thanks to Pat et al for their reply on my Glibc 2.16 question! I have one more:

I just received a new "toy", a piece of test equipment called a MiniVNA (aka Vector Network Analyzer), which I'll give props to at http://miniradiosolutions.com

Anyway, this animal is somewhat software-defined, and the software that has to run on the host computer uses Java for the promised portability. It works fine on 13.37 with the included JRE 6. But with the new license restrictions and my desire to run FOSS whenever possible, I'm wondering if Eric's OpenJDK packages/slackbuilds will make it into the official 14.0 distro or will Java be officially dropped?

Thanks again!

Mike

No, they cannot be re-distributed.

Eric's OpenJRE/JDK packages effectively will replace the JDK/JRE packages from Oracle. The only thing is, OpenJRE/JDK does require the IcedTea package as well to enable web browser plugin extensions.

However, for now I think we are stuck officially with the Oracle/Sun Java packages unless Patrick says otherwise.

SqdnGuns (how DO you pronounce that?): Java 7 can't be redistributed; I believe Java 6 still can, but I may be wrong. (Referring to the binaries here.)

ReaperX7: Because of the above, Pat CAN'T distribute Oracle's Java 7 and possibly Java 6; however, the OpenJDK stuff is truly open (I think) and can. Thus, if we're keeping Java in the distro, it has to be OpenJDK; otherwise, Pat has to drop it from 14.0.

Hopefully this explains the problem. If Pat does drop Java, I can download the binaries off Oracle's site or use Eric's scripts to build and install OpenJDK, but it's just a hassle. I realize Java isn't used in a lot of things anymore for desktop/server use (I think, I may very well be way off base here), but it would be nice to have it along with Python, Perl, and Ruby.

Mike

I don't think you are right. Icedtea, GNU classpath, and OpenJDK are all under the GPLv2 + linking exception.
http://icedtea.classpath.org/wiki/Fr...eased_under.3F
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IcedTea
Only the Oracle java can't be redistributed because it is under a proprietary license:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/ja...nse/index.html

I've been using Eric's OpenJDK7 packages for several months now and they've worked flawlessly for Eclipse and the Android SDK so far. I'm definitely hoping that Pat decides to switch over to OpenJDK, since it is clearly the future of Java on Linux. With Oracle preventing redistribution of newer versions, I would think that Pat would have to either switch to OpenJDK or just drop Java entirely from Slackware 14.

Thank you all for this thread. Could someone post a link to OpenJDK. I am running current with java 6.0_27 and FF 13.1 is sooo slow. I order another 2GB or ram. Only 2 plugins i have are flash and java. Addons i have
running are Adblock, NoScript, Webmailblocker which i just disabled to see if it helps. Have nothing else. Only Java is not updated. Going to look for Eric's Open JDK.

here you go: http://alien.slackbook.org/blog/upda...k-7-available/

If your need a more recent Oracle Java, you can use this.

Good links, thank you. Received 2GB from newegg today and still Firefox in current 64 loads super slow.

try another browser! ;)

Great easy to use script and learn with for jre ran like a charm. Thank you. Please look @ FF & Browser question for current here:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...-a-4175415330/

Definitely.

The only options for Slack 14 is to drop java or provide OpenJDK version of it. I'd put my money on pat including the OpenJDK version of Java with Slack.

I've had some issues with OpenJDK but mostly its just drop-in replacement for the Oracle JDK binaries.

Hmm...no response so far from the team--maybe they don't know themselves yet! (Or haven't thought of it yet due to more pressing business.) Guess we'll all find out in one of the next updates...

There are some issues with OpenJDK and OpenJRE but most of them are minor stuff like the different Java Console and the need to use the IcedTea library to use Java in web browsers to name a few, but the problems are minor and few from what I've read up on. Otherwise it's a fairly sound drop in replacement.

I give OpenJRE and OpenJDK a +1 vote to replace the outdated Oracle packages. We need an update for Java, and it fit's the bill to go with OpenJRE and OpenJDK.

I think they will probably have to drop Oracle JRE because there was a thread on here about why it wasn't patched for a critical security flaw. Someone said it was because it can't be redistributed anymore.

From this post in Alien BOB's blog, it is easy to see what is planned.

Let me quote his comment posted: July 10, 2012 at 00:28:
So, please be patient everybody. Unless Eric encounter unexpected obstacle on his path, we can expect that OpenJDK be included in Slackware 14.

That's my guess, at least ;)

EDIT Only a guess, I admit, see Alien Bob's post below.

I think Icedtea may be easier to install and use.

Icedtea is not a Java package itself. It is only a build harness which makes it easier to compile OpenJDK from source and also allows the creation of a Java web browser plugin package.

Whether you find Oracle's own JDK or OpenJDK easier to install is a matter of opinion I guess. The icedtea-web plugin does not yet have 100% coverage of the capabilities of the Oracle binary (which is not opensource).

And what happens to Java in Slackware 14 is still undecided. It is not certain that OpenJDK will be added. My full post (of which the above quote was only a part) did not imply that it's certain it will get added.

Eric

Thanks for providing us the official answer we were waiting for :cool:

I thank you for the response as well, Eric, but I guess it was jumping the gun partially as the new update includes this:

"Next, Java has gone away due to licensing restrictions..."

I suppose there's still a chance Eric's package will make it in since we're still not at .rc1, but it doesn't look hopeful at this point.