Java wont install

[Stephen R Laniel]

On Wed, Jul 06, 2005 at 03:29:58PM -0500, John Luckmann wrote:
> hey, I'm new to Ubuntu(just installed today) so I'm not sure if this goes here
> but heres my problem:the rest of my family uses the computer differently then
> me so my sister needs java to play some games but the linux installer for it
> wont work is it not compatle with this version of linux(i'm realitily new to
> linux too I only got it because I want to learn computer programing and stuff
> like that) thanks for any help

Java's a bit of a complicated beast. Basically, you'll find
that using any non-open-source software under Linux is a
little challenging. Java isn't open-sourced; Sun probably
will open-source it eventually, but not yet.

So you need to install the Ubuntu package called
'java-package', then follow the directions in there.
Basically Java-package will walk you through the steps of
downloading the right files off Sun's website, then turn the
file you downloaded into an honest-to-goodness Ubuntu
package.

In case that last paragraph was confusing, here's what I
mean: the whole point of using a Linux distribution, rather
than just downloading packages one at a time from various
websites, is to keep your packages organized. So if I want
to install the Firefox browser under Ubuntu, for instance, I
don't go to getfirefox.com like anyone else would. Instead I
use the Synaptic package-management program, or the
'apt-get' command-line tool, and I install it through there.
Likewise, when I want to delete a package when I realize
that it doesn't suit me anymore, I delete it using Synaptic
or apt-get. Whenever I want to *upgrade* a package to the
latest version, I use the same tools.

Which is a long way of saying that if you want to use Java
under Ubuntu, you shouldn't just go to Sun's website and
download it off there. Here's what you do:

1) Install java-package, using Synaptic (Applications ->
System Tools -> Add/Remove Programs) or apt-get; if the
latter, you'd type

sudo apt-get install java-package

at the command line.

2) Follow the directions in
/usr/share/doc/java-package/README.Debian

3) Let us know if you need any more help.

-- 
Stephen R. Laniel
steve at laniels.org
+(617) 308-5571
http://laniels.org/
PGP key: http://laniels.org/slaniel.key
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