Comment 0 for bug 669234

Binary package hint: sun-java6-bin

When a Java Webstart application is installed in Ubuntu, a shortcut may be created on the desktop. This shortcut links to the javaws executable like this:
/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun-1.6.0.22/jre/bin/javaws [lots of parameters]

This shortcut links to the version-specific path of javaws. When the Java package gets a security update this path changes, disabling all webstart shortcuts.

Scenario:
- User visits http://www.puppygames.net, selects 'Droid Assault' and clicks 'download demo'
- A .jnlp file is offered by Firefox, Firefox responds by offering the default 'open with..' action ('Open with Java Webstart')
- User plays game. Java Webstart will also place a shortcut on the user's Desktop (due to a bug in javaws this shortcut is not given the 'executable' flag, so it won't have an icon until the user manually set the flag).
- Viewing the properties of the shortcut, you'll see that the command field is set to a version-specific directory.

Suggestion for a fix:
From what I can tell, the default application-binding to .jnlp files points to the javaws executable in the version-specific /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun-1.6.0.22/jre/bin/ directory. Changing both this binding and the shortcuts to the Java Plugin Control Panel in System -> Preferences to /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun will create shortcuts that point to a directory that will always contain the last sun jre and survives updates.