Comment 29 for bug 239575

The java problem is version-dependent. For example, I'm using the icedtea plugin with Zotero 2.02, Firefox 3.5.8 and OpenOffice.org 3.2 with no issues.

My understanding is that for Zotero's integration with OpenOffice.org to work with Firefox ≥ 3.6, IcedTea6 1.7 is required, specifically the new IcedTea NPRuntime-based plugin included with IcedTea6 1.7. Otherwise the Sun java plugin is required. Here's a relevant thread at the Zotero forums:
http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/11429/zotero-in-ubuntu-104-lucid-lynx/

I believe that the need for the NPRuntime-based plugin is not limited to Zotero's OOo extension but that it is needed for all java applets to run in Firefox ≥ 3.6. Since Lucid has Firefox 3.6.3, I'm thinking that it's likely that the IcedTea NPRuntime plugin will be available on realease of Lucid. In any case, there continue to be new builds of OpenJDK for Lucid: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/openjdk-6
As of this writing, the last release was just four days ago.

All of that is to say that I've been waiting for Lucid final before concluding that the plugin from Sun will be required for the Zotero/OOo integration extension. It seems possible that it may not be a requirement. I don't have any authoritative knowledge on any of this, it's just what I've gathered from reading. But it's one reason why I haven't yet updated the Ubuntu wiki page for Zotero 2.0 yet: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Zotero

FWIW, Zotero is now GPLv3:
http://www.zotero.org/support/changelog#changes_in_2.0rc1_january_26_2010