glfs/general/prog/jdk/j2sdk-intro.xml

<sect2>
<title>Introduction to j2sdk</title>

<screen>Download location (HTTP):       <ulink url="&j2sdk-download-http;"/>
Download location (FTP):        <ulink url="&j2sdk-download-ftp;"/>
Version used (binary):          &j2sdk-bin-version;
Version used (source):          &j2sdk-src-version;
Package size (binary):          &j2sdk-bin-size;
Package size (source):          &j2sdk-src-size;
Estimated Disk space required:  &j2sdk-src-buildsize;</screen>

<para>The j2sdk package contains Sun's java development environment.
This is useful for developing java programs and provides the runtime
environment necessary to run java programs.  It also includes a plug-in
for browsers so that they can be java aware.</para>

<para>
The JDK comes in two flavors, a precompiled binary and a source package. The
precompiled binary is linked against gcc2 libraries. Due to the incompatibilities
between gcc2 and gcc3, the precompiled java plugin causes problems when gcc3
compiled packages (for example mozilla) try to load the java plugin.
The source package requires registration at the Sun developer site and accepting
the Sun Community Source License.
The source code cannot be downloaded from some countries, so for users
from those countries, the binary may be the only option.
</para>

<para>Even if you plan on compiling the jdk source, you will need to download
the binary version to bootstrap the jdk build.
Follow the above link to download both source and binary packages. When
downloading the source also download the mozilla headers package available at
the same location.
</para>

<para>Download the patches for j2sdk source from <ulink url="&hfile-root;"/>
</para>

<para>If you have difficulties in building the jdk, check out the javafromscratch
hint at <ulink url="http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/~tushar/"/> for some workarounds.
</para>

<para>For users who do cannot download the j2sdk source owing to license
restrictions, blackdown has a gcc3 based precompiled version.
Check out <ulink url="http://www.blackdown.org/"/> for more information.</para>

<screen>j2sdk depends on:
<xref linkend="xfree86"/>, <xref linkend="zip"/>, <xref linkend="unzip"/>, 
<xref linkend="cpio"/>, <xref linkend="tcsh"/> and <xref linkend="gcc2"/></screen>

</sect2>