opinions of openjdk/icedtea. Will the average user notice a difference

It seemed to hang on one site I visited with a corresponding cpu spike. FYI, if you enable the partner repo within Ubuntu Lucid, sun-java is there.

 

I have always preferred and installed sun java in Ubuntu, even if it had to be installed manually to the /opt file, reason is that Sun Java is far more compatible and would pass all Java tests thrown at it. Thankfully now Canonical has seen it prudent to include it in partner repos and that means it would be updated regularly unlike in past where we had to download the bin file and do a manual update.

 

I noticed it on one site, and I am not certain that it was even an openjdk issue. Is the difference that obvious to you in your day to day usage? (OT, check the NYS thread over at Ubuntu)

Edit: I am, or course, assuming you gave openjdk a spin out of curiosity.

 

Prefer Sun Java because of compatability as well. Some software written in Java requires Sun Java to function properly (or even install).

 

I have tried Open JDK many a times but somehow reverted back to Sun Java, programs like J Downloader would just not run right with Open JDK.

 

Really? So if you install a program like you mentioned, there will be missing dependencies (assuming the partner repo is not enabled).

 

Yes, Frostwire is one example. It specifically checks for sun-java before installation, if that doesn't exist, it won't even install.

 

In case of Jdownloader, you would need to manually specify Java path in case of Open JDK and even then it wouldn't work well.

 

You might end up having both openjdk and Sun's java jre because a number of packages will install openjdk automatically as recommends. For instance pdftk. To avoid installing recommends for a particular package automatically: apt-get --no-install-recommends
Of course if the package really needs the recommends, just install them as well.
Openjdk has improved and the sites I need it for are now all loading applets nicely.

I don't use icedtea.

PS. The latest sun java packages are usually obtainable from the 'bleed' ppa's (https://launchpad.net/~karmic-bleed/ archive/ppa)
Not yet for Lucid though. ( Untick the ppa once java installed to avoid upgrading other packages - as they are 'bleeding edge' afterall.
There is no problem with the sun java package from bleed ppa's.

 

No need for Bleed's in Lucid as it installs from Ubuntu's own partner repos, as for open jdk getting installed side by side, it doesn't happen if you install Sun Java first before installing any Java related programs.

 

Must be new with Lucid because with Karmic it did happen and I installed Sun Java first.
Can you confirm by installing pdftk, assuming you had Sun Java installed first ?

 

Ocky, best example in Karmic would be to install Sun Java and then Open Office base which would not bring in Open JDK that it would otherwise do.

 

linuxforall, could you do me a favour, see in Lucid's Synaptic whether by selecting pdftk, openjdk would be automatically installed as well even if you already have Sun Java installed. If so it would prove my point that one could easily land up with both.

 

I have one Java app that crashes on start up with openjdk, but works fine with Sun Java.
Could well be a bug in the app, but they only test against Sun Java.

 

I had installed sun- java the day I installed Ubuntu.Now I tried the thing you suggested and this is the result:

 

In Mint 9 openjdk is installed by default. Although I had no problem with it while surfing the web it caused a very high CPU load (sometimes up to 80-90%) even after the FF tab where I needed it was closed. So I replaced it with sun-java, and the problem has vanished since then

 

Ok, thanks cet. When I installed pdftk it pulled in openjdk ( I hadn't installed Sun jre ). So it seems things have improved in Lucid because Karmic installed openjdk despite my having installed Sun jre well before that.
Thanks again also to linuxforall.

I do not experience this in Ubuntu Lucid with openjdk. (With Opera - I have apparmor blocking java in FF - too lazy right now to disable or change the profile)
BTW tlu, are you back in the Ubuntu/Mint camp ? What about SuSE ?

 

In Karmic or Jaunty, I always installed Sun Java first and that way, Open JDK was never pulled in by any Java specific apps. Best part now is with the partner repo, Sun Java will get automatic updates which brings total peace of mind.

 

Yes, I'm now on Mint. Why? SuSe is not bad but I found it, well, ponderous compared with Ubuntu/Mint. I find Mint very fast and responsive, and I also prefer the Debian style straightforward package management. SuSe's package management is overly complex, IMHO.

 

Indeed, that's a really important step.

 

Because at one stage you were rather anti Ubuntu (Karmic ?) for stability reasons if I remember correctly, and you switched to SuSE. Anyway great to see that you have found merit in latest Ubuntu/Mint versions.

 

We all have to find our disro of choice, I started with SuSE in 1999 and then switched to Ubuntu with HOARY and never ever looked back, found debian package manager plus Ubuntu's synaptic to be the best.

 

Yes, I had too many problems with that version - but none with Mint 9 so far (with the exception of openjdk).

I hope that feeling will last for quite a while

 

How bout Fedora? Whats your opinion on that?

 

I must admit that I never tried it. But now that you mention it: I should really get it and test in Virtualbox.