[Deploying Sakai] Be careful: Ubuntu's Sun JDK packages going away soon

[Adams, David]

I didn't realize this was coming so I wanted to make sure everyone here was aware:

Due to some licensing changes from Oracle, open OS distributors are no longer allowed to distribute the JDK. Canonical has announced [1] that it will soon be removing the Sun JDK packages from its partner repository. But not only will the packages no longer be available for new installation, but if you have the Sun JDK packages already installed and run an apt-get update, Java WILL BE REMOVED from your system. To continue using the Sun JDK, you will have to download and install it manually.

I'm not sure how this will affect Debian or other open Linux distributions, but I assume at the very least that no new updates will be coming for JDK 6. In any case, it may be wise to install and update Java yourself if you don't already do so (it's pretty easy to do).

[1] https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-security-announce/2011-December/001528.html


David Adams