Getting Java to work in Lenny

No!!! Definitely I am not very keen on installing non-free packages. However, my thirst for learning about new software is greater than you might imagine. I needed to try Desktoptwo  for a review article I was writing and obviously I was asked to install Java (and also Adobe Reader) to run the software.

Installing the Java runtime environment in Lenny is a blast. You only have to enable non-free in your sources.list file. Run apt-get update and apt-get install sun-java6-jre. And you get a neat and clean installation. However, it will not be enough. It will not work. If you run Sun's Java, your jre will not be detected.

The tip and trick is installing the sun-java6-plugin which allows Mozilla and other browsers to use the java plugin. Java Plug-in comes with the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Just run apt-get install sun-java6-plugin and you are done.

By the way, desktoptwo is okay. I like it but I still prefer eyeOS.

Here is some more information quoted from the description of the packages.

Packages:

sun-java6-jre

*Sun Java(TM) Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 (architecture independent files)

The Sun Java Platform Standard Edition Runtime Environment (JRE) 6

contains the Java virtual machine, runtime class libraries, and

Java application launcher that are necessary to run programs written

in the Java progamming language. It is not a development environment and

doesn't contain development tools such as compilers or debuggers.

For development tools, see the Java Development Kit JDK(TM) 6

(package sun-java6-jdk).

NOTE: You must accept Sun's EULA prior to successfully installing

this package

This package contains architecture independent files.

sun-java6-plugin

*The Java(TM) Plug-in, Java SE 6

Java Plug-in enables applets written to the Java Platform 6

specification to be run in Mozilla and other web browsers.

Java Plug-in comes with the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

This is a metapackage containing dependencies for running Java in

various browsers.

Installing Lenny (Advanced mode)

I installed Lenny in advanced mode and  lived to tell.

I am proud!!! I am on top of the world.

When I was struggling so hard to install Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 "Woody"  I was desperate to get a nice installation. After a thousand attempts I decided to try advanced mode. Back then I had no Debian experience whatsoever.  I had no idea of how to answer to the prompts.  I had to quit.

But after the years, I decided to install Lenny in VirtualBox with LXDE in expert mode. Now the installer has a menu to select the desktop environment. I chose LXDE and went on in expert mode and I got it!!!!!!!! It worked!!!

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Maybe I should include this blog entry into a new section named "Cheap philosophy" 'cause I was simply daydreaming about I don't know what when I suddenly got this stupid but awesome conclusion:

"Life is like punctuation marks"

It's true, you sometimes pause things to continue later, then you use a comma.
You sometimes stop something to start something different, then you use a stop or dot.
You sometimes need time to think a bit longer, then you use dots.
And definitely when you think you've enough of something you just use a full stop.

And so on...

Grudge against the world

I've got a great wireless internet connection (3 MB down and 1 MB up). Sometimes however I have to wait too long to load a simple page and what seems to be a lifetime to connect to my mail server. It's supposed to happen only when internet is overloaded which no doubt coincides when I'm free to surf the net.  

I've also got a brand new TV aerial and a plasma set with a built-in TDT adapter. Most days however I keep getting the "No signal" warning again and again. So I can't watch my favourite programme and  have to switch to any other channel.

So what is the conclusion? Well I don't know what to think or who to blame. Is it that there is not enough planification and things have gone out of control. Is it that I'm living in a country in which technology has overcome us. Or maybe that all these new technologies really stink and that we are living a great lie after all? All these advances in the end  seem to be a big step backwards.

What should I do now? Poweroff my laptop at once and go to bed? or maybe I should resign and continue living this lie?

ps: It's something similar to what happens when there is an electric power outage. In the past it was possible to use phones, cook or even use water (Among other things). Nowadays when there is an electrical failure, we can't use our mobiles or even drink a coffee. It's sad but true, we are going backwards!!!