[NTLUG:Discuss] Java 2 and Redhat

[Richard Cobbe]

Bob Byron wrote on 2-2-2000:

> I have Redhat 6.1 and want to install Java 2.  Does anyone know if 
> Redhat has an RPM file to install it?  Where should I get
> the linux version?

I don't know that there's an RPM of the JDK available; I've certainly not
seen one.  However, installing the various tarballs out there isn't hard.

You can get the "official" copy from Sun at
http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/ -- look for the Linux link.
There's a free registration required.  However, for any one of a number of
reasons, I'd recommend getting Blackdown's copy instead.  Licensing,
ideology, and reputations aside, the debugger included with Sun's JDK is
unusable.  Blackdown's works.  You can get the blackdown version from one
of the mirror sites listed at
http://www.blackdown.com/java-linux/mirrors.html.  You'll need to have
bunzip2 (comes with RH 6.1) to install this one.

Oh, yeah: my statement above that Sun's jdb is unusable is not based on the
user interface, primitive though it may be.  It's based on the
functionality.  When I start jdb, one of the first things I usually try to
do is set a breakpoint somewhere so I can single-step through the code.
Well, Sun's jdb won't let you set a breakpoint yet, because it "can't
connect to a running debugger."  I think this has something to do with
jdb's remote-debugging capability.  Anyway, the only way I've found to
connect the UI to a running debugger is to start the program being
debugged....so it proceeds to execute straight through, either until
completion or until it hits an uncaught exception.  By this point, it's too
late to set a breakpoint.  This is not usable.  Blackdown, on the other
hand, lets you set a breakpoint before you start running the code.

Richard