[ale] Slow Learner/Debian + Java

Grady Harris gharri2 at emory.edu
Sat Apr 26 23:51:04 EDT 2003


I finally swept out the dual-boot from my machine at home three weeks ago & 
installed Debian (woody) as the sole OS. It's been great fun, I'm especially 
fond of apt-get--at least, when it's apt to get what I actually want.

It's been so much fun that I've re-installed three times since, after I've 
managed to screw up something beyond my slim ability to figure it out. I really 
need to take better notes as I go along--I have pretty good notes for the 
initial install, but it's the late, desperate, trying things at quasi-random 
that is less well documented.

Here's what happens:
I'm trying, one more time, to teach myself enough Java to use well the tools 
that have proliferated around XML. Because this is basic learning, I want to 
stick with Sun's J2SDK--that's the version in the books & tutorials. I also 
want to use jEdit & Eclipse because--because I like them. I also would prefer 
to stick with the default bash shell, to reduce the number of variables.

I've sought out instructions on the installation from Sun up to Blackdown, 
through Google & journals, & have discovered that there sure are a lot of 
variations on the single theme.

Again, here's what happens:
1. I create a /usr/local/java directory & run the Sun binary there;
2. open /etc/profile, add after the if->fi section:
	export JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/java/j2sdk
	export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$JAVA_HOME/jre:$PATH
3.  source /etc/profile
4. java -version
Cool, it gives the right answer.

But then--I try to install jEdit. It brings in the gcj compiler, the gij 
libraries--nothing works!--apt-get remove jedit--it's gone, but they remain! 
apt-get remove gij--it isn't there, says that liar, apt-get. I mess around 
with .bashrc, with bash.profile, add a PATH anywhere that looks like it'll take 
one, I forget to write down what I've done! Install jEdit from the .jar file--
it can't find the classes! Add a classpath here & there! The usual shell 
commands are unrecognized! Shut it down & go to sleep at dawn, cussing!

Yeah, it doesn't work anymore. It's like that game on Officer Don's show, where 
you tried to gather marbles in a can that dangled at the end of a string.

Like I said, I've played variations on this about four times, & I'm learning a 
great deal, but I would like to do something besides set up the environment, 
like, say, use it. Do any of y'all have a fairly straight-forward installation 
that runs J2SDK 1.4.*, jEdit, & even Eclipse on Debian? Where did you set your 
PATH? Did you set a classpath?

Grady Harris
Headmaster, The Slow Learners' Academy
Home of the Fightin' Zeno's Arrows
Our motto: "Nearly there!"
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