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Switching Java versions on a Debian/Ubuntu system

I recently found some issues with the openjdk Ubuntu/Debian default Java implementation. Specifically I had issues with their web start support (javaws). I found that the Sun implementation of Java did not have such a deficiency and the Sun implementation is available through the regular Ubuntu/Debian package sources. I installed the Sun implementation and wanted to switch the default Java to that version.

So what have I found out ?

When you want to switch to the Sun implementation:

sudo update-java-alternatives --set java-6-sun

When you want to go back to the openjdk implementation:

sudo update-java-alternatives --set java-6-openjdk

Notice that once you do any of the above you leave “auto” mode which means that new installation of Java implementation will not switch your default one. If that is what you want then ok. If not you can return to “auto” mode with:

sudo update-java-alternatives --auto

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Dropbox is better than Ubuntu one even in Ubuntu

I’m using both DropBox and Ubuntu one services in my desktop and laptop machines and I find dropbox much superior. Here are the reasons why:

  1. You can get ridd of dropbox (just dpkg --remove it).
  2. Installation is very easy (apt-get install).
  3. It is very clear that dropbox is running (via the tray icon).
  4. The tray icon has all the functionality you want via the UI.
  5. The command line tool dropbox(1) is even better than the UI since you can check if the upload has finished or not, turn dropbox on and off and even configure if dropbox is started automatically at login time.
  6. Unlike ubuntu one dropbox does not seem to want to sync my bookmarks, contacts and more and certainly does not urge me to do that by DEFAULT which could lead to security issues.
  7. File syncing is just an application and as such should not be a part of the system administration menu as the guys in ubuntu seem to have been forced to implement by pressure from their management. Why not put backgammon score keeping in the sys admin menu too ?

These are also the reasons why I keep my most important files in dropbox and not ubuntu one. Ubuntu really need to do a lot more integration work to make me prefer them to Dropbox. Go Dropbox.