I replace sun-java6 with openjdk-6 in Debian Squeeze, everything still works

I'm not sure it's a Mint thing...but that's what we use here at home so I have no other frame of reference.

I got Diane a subscription to Pogo.com after her stroke as part of her rehabilitation...mostly to help facilitate lost hand/eye coordination and to increase her ability to bring things into focus. Many of the games on pogo complain that java needs to be installed, even with OpenJDK installed. The only ones that play are the pure flash-based games.

I'm not real sure what recourse there is aside from waiting for Pogo to catch up with the Linux machines but then again, we've had to wait on a lot of people to do the same.

Ken, the only suggestion I can make is to automate a script to download and install Oracle Java from the java.com website. :(

That will probably solve the problem, but it may be a royal pain to maintain, and it's not a long term solution.

I had already played with that idea but Diane is the type where even if one icon has changed on the desktop, she's got to grab a paper sack to keep from hyperventilating. Every time something doesn't work on Pogo, it's like reacting to a civil defense siren. A Round of Drama for everyone.....

Right now, I've set her up an Imac G4 in the spare bedroom with an always-on live cd and she's happy as a clam. As much as I don't like apple products or philosophies, it was donated and running Linux on it is a pain so it's been pressed into duty so I don't pull out what hair I have left dealing with Pogo. God, I hate that site.

> A Round of Drama for everyone.....

Significant others are like that. :) On both ends, I'm sure.

> Right now, I've set her up an Imac G4 in the spare bedroom

You do what you have to do. Proprietary software does have its place. And it looks like this is one of those cases. It's a shame Oracle forced us into this, but what else can you expect from a company like them?

Ken, I would also download Oracle Java from their site. You can still use the Oracle/Sun binaries -- the only change is that you have to go to them to get the files. Linux distributions are no longer allowed to redistribute them.

As far as redistribution goes, I'm not sure how different this is from Flash. In Debian anyway, when you install the flashplugin-nonfree package, a script goes to Adobe and downloads the binary from them. This is the same way many OpenBSD/FreeBSD ports work -- they download either source or binary directly from upstream and compile or install them on your local machine.

Except in this case you'd be talking about Java binaries.

I don't know if the new license precludes this thing from happening for Oracle Java.

I'm thinking it might: When you install Java in OpenBSD (i386 only, I believe, but I could be wrong), there is a port that you use, but in the course of installing the port you needed to go to Sun and download a bunch of stuff on your own. I guess they weren't allowed to do it all with the script.

Anyhow, it's a big mess, and while I'm slightly happier to be using OpenJDK, those who offer services based on Java should really test against OpenJDK instead of Oracle Java. I don't know what ships in Windows as far as Java goes, but that's also a mess with all the different versions that end up living in a typical Windows installation.

I'm sorry it's not working for you. For now I'd go directly to Oracle:

http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

> I don't know what ships in Windows as far as Java goes...

Nothing. You have to install Java yourself. Some OEM's may install it for you, but I don't honestly know.

I've also had problems with Java and Pogo. On Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) both the sun-java6 and OpenJDK/Iced-tea wouldn't work through a proxy: http://jhansonxi.blogspot.com/2011/11/haphazard-proxy-suppor...