Oracle Java

By default, Linux Mint uses Open Java. Some applications, such as eclipse, require Oracle Java.

There are two components to Oracle Java - the JRE (Java Runtime Environment) which is used to execute Java programs and the JDK (Java Development Kit) which is used in the development of Java programs. Java was first created by Sun Microsystems. The original software license allowed for Linux distros, including Ubuntu, to maintain the packages in their archives, simplifying the installation. Oracle Corporation purchased Sun Microsystems in 2011. The license terms for Java have been changed in such a way that Linux distros can no longer directly maintain the package within their archives.

A group of users, collectively referred to as webupd8, maintain a number of PPA archives in Ubuntu/Launchpad. One of the PPAs includes a program to install Oracle Java from the Oracle website. This is a simple method to install Oracle Java. In this case, this installs the JDK, which also includes the JRE.

To add this PPA, copy the following text into a Terminal and execute:

• sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java && sudo apt-get --quiet update

There are two current versions of Oracle Java - Java 7 and Java 8. Only one should be installed.

Oracle Java 7

The following commands will install Oracle Java 7:

• sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-installer
  sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-set-default

Oracle Java 8

The following commands will install Oracle Java 8:

• sudo apt-get install oracle-java8-installer
• sudo apt-get install oracle-java8-set-default

Google Chrome

Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google. The code is proprietary. The major reason that I use Google Chrome is that it contains an updated version of the flashplayer software from Adobe. Adobe has abandoned further development of flashplayer for Linux (see the following article: Adobe Abandons Linux in ZDNet), but is developing for Google Chrome.

Care must be taken in following the instructions - the Repository will be added twice. It is critical that the duplicate entry is removed.

• sudo wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -
  sudo sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list'
  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install google-chrome-stable

Once these are completed, open the Software Sources. In the Other Software tab, check for two entries for http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/. One of these entries must be removed.

Updated Application Repositories

The standard Repository contains specific versions of Application packages, such as LibreOffice. Security updates are applied, but very rarely are the packages updated to later versions. This provides stability, but does not allow access to updated features.

In my case, I prefer to have access to updated features, but I do not want to be at the bleeding edge. Most of the applications have PPAs setup in ubuntu that contain stable backports. In other words, if LibreOffice releases a new version, then the team reponsible for LibreOffice in ubuntu will test it and may provide an update that can be used in the current Ubuntu release.

The following are the archives that I use to provide relatively stable updated versions of selected software:

Adding a Repository

In Linux Mint, the easiest way to add a repository is to open Menu > Administration > Software Sources. Once open, select the PPAs tab. Each additional repository can be added.

Once the repositories are added, then you should run a System Update to obtain the latest version of any software that contains an updated version in the PPA repositories.