Why there is no sun-java in Debian Wheezy and how can I fix this?

Question

Sun's java is in Debian Lenny and Debian Squeeze repos (non-free) but no in wheezy^1,2. Why?

edit: after further research I found that java has been removed. reson:

ROM; security issues and newer versions cannot be redistributed ³

The following question remains:

Where do I get sun-java packages for Debian Wheezy?

Answer 1

I am not sure that it is because of licensing reasons, since the Sun/Oracle Java is in both Squeeze and Sid.

If you need Sun/Oracle Java on Wheezy, the easiest way is probably to install the Squeeze or Sid version. You can make apt to do that for you by pinning.

Pinning allows you to run certain packages from one version (stable, testing, unstable) without the necessity of upgrading your entire system.

I don't do that at the moment, since I find the opendjk packages adequate for all I need, but I did use pinning in the past for number of other packages.

Answer 2

You can try to install the packages for Ubuntu.

You can get them here (edited).

Currently sun-java is in the partner repository, not in the multiverse as it was previously.

You will notice that there is no version for Ubuntu 11.10. Same problem as with Debian, I think.

Answer 3

I don't know the right way to install sun-java, but this is my (not so good) solution for Wheezy.

In this example, my Java version is JDK 64 bit.

1. Download jdk-6u30-linux-x64.bin from www.oracle.com

2. Extract jdk-6u30-linux-x64.bin to /usr/lib/jvm

   cp jdk-6u30-linux-x64.bin /usr/lib/jvm
   cd /usr/lib/jvm
   chmod 777 jdk-6u30-linux-x64.bin
   ./jdk-6u30-linux-x64.bin
   rm jdk-6u30-linux-x64.bin
   

3. Create a symbolic link to the new directory /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.6.0_30

   ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.6.0_30 /usr/lib/jvm/java-sun
   

   (This will save time for the next updates. Just remove the link /usr/lib/jvm/java-sun and create the new symbolic link.)

4. Create symbolic links for the web browser:

   ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-sun/jre/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/javaplugin.so
   

   Test with a web browser pointing to www.java.com

   rm /usr/bin/java
   ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-sun/bin/java /usr/bin/java
   rm /usr/bin/javac
   ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-sun/bin/javac /usr/bin/javac
   

   and so on..

Hope you find a better solution.