Just starting - confused by app installation methods - in this case Java

[Fergu5]

While the software manager seems great for installing stuff that's listed, installing other apps seems really complicated and requires use of the terminal with a bunch of, to me, really arcane code. I'm trying to understand this and have read a lot and watched many vids but still don;t really get it :O(

So, I'm trying to install the Java Runtime Environment, I've downloaded the installation file and unzipped it. All installation guides seem to tell me just to type a few lines of code to install it, but the first, 'cd/usr/java' just gives me 'no such directory' I got a bit further entering 'sudo apt update' but when I enter sudo apt install openjdk-22-jdk it just says it can't locate the package - so how do I get it to locate the package.

Gotta say that, while I've been really impressed with Mint since I switched from W10 a couple of days ago, this bit seems really difficult and I don;t know why :O(

Any help gratefully received :O)

Fergus

 

[Brickwizard]

welcome,
I assume you downloaded from java com , did you download the right one for your distribution?
Most distributions have a safer version in the repositories as openjk-17-jre

 

[Fergu5]

The file I downloaded was:

jre-8u461-linux-x64.tar.gz


The 'release' file in the folder says:
JAVA_VERSION="1.8.0_461"
JAVA_RUNTIME_VERSION="1.8.0_461-b11"
OS_NAME="Linux"
OS_VERSION="2.6"
OS_ARCH="amd64"
SOURCE=".:git:6e654dee3fff+"
BUILD_TYPE="commercial"

Not sure where to go from there :O/

 

[Brickwizard]

ok if your using an Arch distribution you need to use packman

How to Install Apps in Arch Linux

Arch Linux is a lightweight and flexible Linux distribution known for its rolling release model and a highly customizable nature. One of the essential skills for Arch Linux users is the ability to install applications efficiently. In this blog post, we will explore the various ways to install...

linuxvox.com

 

[kc1di]

Hello @Fergu5
Welcome to the Linux.org forum. This page will show you how to install java on Linux Mint. Good luck

How To Install Java on Linux Mint 22

Learn how to install Java on Linux Mint 22 effortlessly! Follow our step-by-step guide and start coding today!

idroot.us

 

[Condobloke]

From Linux Mint Software Manager

There is nothing to be gained by making life harder

Keep it simple. Simple works

 

[MikeWalsh]

Whilst I appreciate that for Linux users, OpenJDK is always recommended - because it's in the repos, and therefore considered to be "safer" - I've been using the Linux tarballs from Java.com for more than a decade.....and have NEVER had the slightest issue with them in all that time.

I could demonstrate how we do this in Puppy, and show my own custom 'sharing' set-up across the "kennels". However, on this occasion I'm not going to do so.....because it will only further confuse the OP.

Instead, I'm going to let you guys instruct the OP in the correct, accepted way to install the Java Runtime Environment from the repos. Doing so will be to their benefit, since in the process they will hopefully learn how to install other stuff in future. At the end of the day, that's what it's all about.....helping others to help themselves.


Mike.

 

[KGIII]

Someone should probably mention, as you're looking at installing software in an odd manner, that Linux is not Windows.

Now, somebody above (condo) has shown you how to install OpenJDK. Do that. I believe JRE is also a candidate.

That's still going to be wonky. Java applications in Linux don't get installed like normal, unless you yourself make the various shortcuts to make it appear as normal.

See, all you'll have done is install the interpreter that lets you use Java applications.

When you download a Java application, you'll extract it to whatever directory you choose. You'll then use the terminal to navigate to that location. Once there, you'll run the application with java <program_name>.jar.

This is very much unlike how software is normally installed in Linux. So, it's nothing like what you've experienced in Windows and it's nothing many Linux users bother with. Once you've done it a few times, you'll get used to it.

Someone may come along shortly and post the URL to the oft-quoted 'Linux is not Windows' page. That's worth reading.

Most of the time, you'll be installing software straight from the repositories. Otherwise, you'll be downloading and using a .deb file for your software application needs. Those are fairly straightforward, with the latter looking similar to the installation of a .exe file.

 

[Condobloke]

Linux is NOT Windows

 

[MikeWalsh]

I just want to add that I'm not entirely certain that Brian's demo above will necessarily work for whatever the OP has in mind. It's certainly true that JRE has moved on from the long-standing - and much updated - 8-series runtime. However, an awful lot of the existing Java apps to be found out there 'in the wild' have been written to expect the 8-series...and will refuse to work with the 9-series & subsequent updates, given that Oracle carried out a major re-write of the way the Java virtual machine functions with newer builds. So.....

.....I wouldn't like to say whether whatever the OP wishes to use will in fact work with the 11-series as shown above. With Java apps, newer is NOT always "better". I just thought it worth mentioning this, in the light of considerable experience with the JRE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

As @KGIII says above, there's very little 'normal' about working with JRE.....AND it usually involves making up your own 'launch' scripts & .desktop entry files, IF you want stuff to function in a 'normal' manner going forward.

There ARE one hell of a lot of highly-polished Java-based apps out there, though.....and they frequently show up in the most unexpected of places! Java is far more widely employed than many of us realize.

We have a long-running thread on the 'Puppy' forums for folks to post about any Java apps they may have come across. To the best of my knowledge, it's up to something like 29 or 30 pages by now.....and comprises literally hundreds of highly-varied & assorted applications. There's easily enough of the things to stock a dedicated repo all on their own...

(shrug...)


Mike.

 

[Brickwizard]

OK it looks like you downloaded the wrong package, under is the current java build for Debian based distributions
download file to machine, go to the file and right click, the first entry in the drop-down box should be to install using deb package manager, click on and run the application, you will get a pop-up box to decompress the file, the decompressed file is usually placed next to the original file in your download folder, right click and select install,

https://download.oracle.com/java/25/latest/jdk-25_linux-x64_bin.deb

 

[Fergu5]

Hello @Fergu5
Welcome to the Linux.org forum. This page will show you how to install java on Linux Mint. Good luck

When I tried that I got:
fergus@fergus-Aspire-TC-780:~$ sudo apt install openjdk-22-jdk
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package openjdk-22-jdk

:O(

 

[Fergu5]

When I tried that I got:
fergus@fergus-Aspire-TC-780:~$ sudo apt install openjdk-22-jdk
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package openjdk-22-jdk

:O(

So then I started watching a vid which told me to check if I had a version of Java, which I did:
ergus@fergus-Aspire-TC-780:~$ java --verion <I made that spelling mistake so I guess it was ignored>
Command 'java' not found, but can be installed with:
sudo apt install default-jre
So I typed in
sudo apt install default-jre
and it installed

So why did I download huge files? This is all still a bit of a mystery to me /

 

[CaffeineAddict]

So why did I download huge files? This is all still a bit of a mystery to me /

Because you didn't know that majority of software is available in you distro's repo, you just have learn how to use package manager of your distro and how to get a list of package names to install, then it's easy.

 

[kc1di]

one thing that might be of use to you in the future is synaptic package manager. If you are running Mint 22.2 you'll need to install it first.

sudo apt install synaptic

then it will be found under menu and administration. Synaptic is the old package manager and is very good. Just do a search for the program you are looking for and install it through that you'll need to refresh the repro first but that can be done via Syanptic also. Good luck.

 

[Fergu5]

Thanks to everyone who's replied here - I feel I'm at that stage where everything feel scary and opaque but I'm sure I'll get it nailed down in the end. I guess my only thought it that it's just this sort of thing that puts technophobes off the system.

 

[KGIII]

Thanks to everyone who's replied here - I feel I'm at that stage where everything feel scary and opaque but I'm sure I'll get it nailed down in the end. I guess my only thought it that it's just this sort of thing that puts technophobes off the system.

It's not so scary. If you have important data, keep it backed up.

If you like to tinker and change things, you're going to break your operating system. You'll do this because you're new.

That's okay. In fact, it's fine. You'll learn what not to do, and you'll learn more about how things work as you try to fix things. This is all a part of growing into a Linux user. Unless the new user just installed Linux a short time ago, they've broken their operating system. Each and every single one of us regulars has broken our operating system.

I call it 'learning by breaking'. It's an effective way to come to grips with Linux and to learn about it at a deeper level. Eventually, you'll do two things. The first thing you'll do is learn how to have effective backups. The second thing you'll do is learn how to not break your operating system.

It's effective. I even encourage it. You've now seen how easy it is to install Linux. You can do that same process again if you need to. If you have modern hardware, it doesn't even take that long to install Linux -- especially if you have an M.2 NVME SSD.

Eventually, you'll figure out which data is the most important. You might back up all of your data, or maybe you'll just back up what matters most to you. Many people here backup with entire disk images. Me? I only preserve the data in /home/<user> because that's the only data I value. I also don't break anything beyond repair. If my computer breaks, it's not really my fault. It'll be something due to an upgrade. Odds are pretty good that I can repair most anything but, if I can't, I have preserved my home directory and that's all the data I care about.

 

[craigevil]

The easiest thing to do other than using the Mint package manager would be to install the default:

sudo apt install default-jre default-jdk

 

[MikeWalsh]

@Fergu5 :-

Ayup. @KGIII is SO right. In the early days, a decade or so back, I broke MY systems that often it became something of a running joke.....but at least I sooner or later figured out where I was going wrong.

In my case, it was simply being "over-enthusiastic", and getting ahead of myself. You DO soon learn that there's a pretty standard 'list' of things that need doing when setting-up any new distro.....and, more importantly, that these need to be performed in a certain order, in order to NOT "break" things.

The most important thing is to safeguard your personal data. THAT takes precedence over everything else.....preferably on a different drive to that of your OS. This reduces the chances of corruption, or losing anything when your OS invariably goes wrong. Which it will.....at least a few times.

You're not doing anything that hundreds of thousands of other new Linux users haven't done over the years. We've ALL been there at some point. It's a "rite-of-passage" that everybody goes through, trust me. Sure, it's annoying, and can be frustrating.....but every time it happens, if you're at all "tech-savvy" you'll have learnt something else that you shouldn't do in future, or that ought to be done in a different way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Personal data is often irreplaceable. The OS can always be re-installed; in some ways, it's the most "disposable" part of the whole equation. And you'll also very soon figure out another thing; Linux is far, far easier - and quicker! - to re-install than Windows or MacOS are. This is a large part of why so many of us often end up installing, and running, multiple 'distros'. Because it doesn't take much doing.

Nah, you'll be fine. You're now part of a large, world-wide community that looks out for each other.....and will always 'have your back'. There'll always be somebody, somewhere that's experienced the same problem as you, has figured out how to 'fix' it (or been given that advice by others), and is happy to pass it on.

And the best thing about all this? It costs you nothing.....except your time.


Mike.

 

[KGIII]

And the best thing about all this? It costs you nothing.....except your time.

We weren't born knowing how to use computers. At some point, we've all had to learn how to use an operating system.

Many folks stop there and have a wonderful time. If we're lucky, those people blindly do what the OS tells them to do, meaning they at least keep things updated.

But, there are those who dig deeper. There are those that like to tweak and customize their operating system. They like to try changing core behaviors to achieve a desirable user experience.

Now, those people have also broken their operating system. Even a Windows user will break their operating system and learn how to do a clean installation of said operating system. They too will learn and grow, learning how to tweak their device until it matches their expectations.

And, yeah, that breaks stuff. They too break their system until they learn what not to do. Proprietary OS vendors tend to do as much as they can to abstract this away and to make it more difficult. It's not as easy as it once was to break Windows. Your MacOS is going to be just fine if you remain in their walled garden.

So, it's not just Linux. Those who push things and strive to learn more, or to do more, will break things. We're just a Linux forum. Obviously, we see more of it with Linux and refer to Linux more often.