CentOS - Jan 2010 - CentOS 5.4 64-bit: Java web browser plugin for 64-bit FireFox?

Does there exist *anywhere* a Java web browser plugin for 64-bit
FireFox?  The SUN 1.6<mumble> JDK (jdk-6u18-linux-amd64.rpm) does NOT
include the Java web browser plugin library.
java-1.6.0-openjdk-1.6.0.0-1.2.b09.el5.x86_64.rpm does not have one
either.  Should I install the *32-bit* SUN 1.6<mumble> JDK and use the
32-64 bit wrapper?  I've searched the web and read the wiki (which only
shows installing the 32-bit Java web browser plugin).

-- 
Robert Heller             -- 978-544-6933
Deepwoods Software        -- Download the Model Railroad System
http://www.deepsoft.com/  -- Binaries for Linux and MS-Windows
heller at deepsoft.com       -- http://www.deepsoft.com/ModelRailroadSystem/

> Does there exist *anywhere* a Java web browser plugin for 64-bit
> FireFox?  The SUN 1.6<mumble> JDK (jdk-6u18-linux-amd64.rpm) does NOT
> include the Java web browser plugin library.
> java-1.6.0-openjdk-1.6.0.0-1.2.b09.el5.x86_64.rpm does not have one
> either.  Should I install the *32-bit* SUN 1.6<mumble> JDK and use
the
> 32-64 bit wrapper?  I've searched the web and read the wiki (which only
> shows installing the 32-bit Java web browser plugin).
AFAIK, they stopped doing the plugin sometime last year, and the *only*
workaround I've seen is to install Sun's Java.

       mark

Robert Heller wrote:
> Does there exist *anywhere* a Java web browser plugin for 64-bit
> FireFox?  The SUN 1.6<mumble>  JDK (jdk-6u18-linux-amd64.rpm) does
NOT
> include the Java web browser plugin library.
> java-1.6.0-openjdk-1.6.0.0-1.2.b09.el5.x86_64.rpm does not have one
> either.  Should I install the *32-bit* SUN 1.6<mumble>  JDK and use
the
> 32-64 bit wrapper?  I've searched the web and read the wiki (which only
> shows installing the 32-bit Java web browser plugin).
>
there was a relevant thread earlier this year:
http://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos/2010-January/088368.html

I kept the info for maybe trying it out some day, but didn't get around 
to testing it.

On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 4:34 AM, Robert Heller <heller at deepsoft.com>
wrote:
> Does there exist *anywhere* a Java web browser plugin for 64-bit
> FireFox? ?The SUN 1.6<mumble> JDK (jdk-6u18-linux-amd64.rpm) does NOT
> include the Java web browser plugin library.
It's been available since jdk-u13.

Just link the library

   <whatever>./jre/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so

to the firefox's plugin directory under
/usr/lib64/firefox-<whatever>/plugins.

You may have to create the plugins directory.


-- 
      Enjoy global warming while it lasts.

On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 4:34 AM, Robert Heller <heller at deepsoft.com>
wrote:
> Does there exist *anywhere* a Java web browser plugin for 64-bit
> FireFox? ?The SUN 1.6<mumble> JDK (jdk-6u18-linux-amd64.rpm) does NOT
> include the Java web browser plugin library.
It's been available since jdk-u13.

Just link the library

  <whatever>/jre/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so

to the firefox's plugin directory under
/usr/lib64/firefox-<whatever>/plugins.

You may have to create the plugins directory.


-- 
      Enjoy global warming while it lasts.

On 1/28/2010 11:14 AM, Ned Slider wrote:
> This is all documented on the Wiki for anyone who cares to search:
>
> http://wiki.centos.org/TipsAndTricks/PluginsFor64BitFirefox
>
> [rhetorical] Why does this mailing list insist on reinventing the wheel
> rather than perform a simple search of existing documentation first?
You sort-of expect end users to do that.  A more relevant question is 
why is it shipped broken in the first place?  Is it just Red Hat trying 
to maintain their reputation for making java as hard to use as possible?

-- 
   Les Mikesell
    lesmikesell at gmail.com

At Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:35:35 -0600 CentOS mailing list <centos at
centos.org> wrote:
> 
> On 1/28/2010 11:14 AM, Ned Slider wrote:
> > This is all documented on the Wiki for anyone who cares to search:
> >
> > http://wiki.centos.org/TipsAndTricks/PluginsFor64BitFirefox
> >
> > [rhetorical] Why does this mailing list insist on reinventing the
wheel
> > rather than perform a simple search of existing documentation first?
> 
> You sort-of expect end users to do that.  A more relevant question is 
> why is it shipped broken in the first place?  Is it just Red Hat trying 
> to maintain their reputation for making java as hard to use as possible?
Java is an odd case: *Sun* has weird / non-compatible license issues, so
RH (or CentOS) cannot just re-distribute the Sun JDK and appearently the
openjdk does not include a web browser plug in (nothing RH or CentOS can
do about that).

And it appears that Sun decided to change the name and location of the
64-bit plugin, which is what threw me, esp. since in the *32-bit* Sun
JDK (6u18) the *old* plugin library is just where I expected it to be. 
Why did Sun do *that*?  You would have thought that they would have
included a README there to explain what they did.
> 
-- 
Robert Heller             -- 978-544-6933
Deepwoods Software        -- Download the Model Railroad System
http://www.deepsoft.com/  -- Binaries for Linux and MS-Windows
heller at deepsoft.com       -- http://www.deepsoft.com/ModelRailroadSystem/

> Does there exist *anywhere* a Java web browser plugin for 64-bit
> FireFox? ?The SUN 1.6<mumble> JDK (jdk-6u18-linux-amd64.rpm) does NOT
I personally prefer to use the OpenJDK build of JDK 1.6 (Sun's JDK
still has licensing issue)

As discussed recently on this list ("[CentOS] stock openjdk vs.
epel"), there are issues with the plugin when building on CentOS
x86_64:
http://icedtea.classpath.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=405
The workaround is to use another version of the java plugin when
building (see previous discussion)

Meanwhile we have repackaged a recent version of OpenJDK based on the
Fedora 12 version.
It contains the java plugin for Firefox and simply install it when
installing the related RPMs. (no further tweaking required)

You can:
- download the SRPM here and rebuild it yourself
http://www.argeo.org/linux/argeo-el/5/plus/SRPMS/java-1.6.0-openjdk-1.6.0.0-33.b16.el5.argeo.2.src.rpm
- download the x86_64 RPMs here:
http://www.argeo.org/linux/argeo-el/5/plus/x86_64/
- use the related yum repo (BE CAREFUL and use includepkgs: all
packages in this repo *upgrade* base CentOS)

Please note that this package REPLACES the standard OpenJDK 1.6.0.b09
provided by CentOS/RHEL to 1.6.0.b16 (thus fixing some issues).

We use it in production, but no guarantees...
Feedback is of course welcome!