[SLUG] Java installation Fedora Core 6 question

[Ross Kendall]

Hi John,

GCJ is not a full Java implementation and the Sun Java is required for 
nearly all but the most basic java software.  Go ahead and install the 
Sun Java, it will probably come in handy for running something else in 
the future, and it shouldn't cause any problems.

The reason why FC6 doesn't  come with Sun's Java is because it is 
classed as 'non-free' software (political and licencing reasons, not 
technical ones).

Hope that helps,
Ross.

John Allsopp wrote:
> Hello everybody peeps
>
> I've downloaded some software that works on all platforms because it's 
> Java.
>
> But Fedora Core 6 has GCJ.
>
> The software doesn't work under that.
>
> Their tech support says this:
>
> Secondly, here's how to fix the Linux problem.
> They don't have Sun Java installed in Fedora core 6.  The Java they have
> installed is GCJ, which does not implement all of the user interface 
> classes.
> So, you have to install Sun Java, and then the alternatives system in 
> Fedora Core 6. The simple way to get around this is to just change the 
> symbolic links for the Java command (located in /user/bin/java) to 
> point at the new install of Sun Java.
>
> I just wanted your opinions before I actually do that.
>
> I presume there's a reason Fed uses GCJ, whatever that is. Won't me 
> pointing the symbolic links to Java to a completely different Java 
> system just break everything?
>
> What do you think?
>
> Cheers
> J
>