Java is not included in ubuntu-restricted-extras

[poppop]

Binary package hint: ubuntu-restricted-extras

The description of this package cites java runtime environment but it is not installed.
The description or dependencies should be modified.

Extract of description :

Installing this package will pull in support for MP3 playback and
decoding, support for various other audio formats (GStreamer plugins),
Microsoft fonts, Java runtime environment, Flash plugin, LAME (to create
compressed audio files), and DVD playback.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Dependencies:

DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.04
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: ubuntu-restricted-extras 30
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=fr_FR.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: ubuntu-restricted-extras
Uname: Linux 2.6.28-11-generic i686

[Przemek K. (azrael)]

related bug: Bug #366039

[Tommy Trussell (tommy-trussell)]

The description needs to be clear that Java is NO LONGER included in this package because an unrestricted version is available. The description could suggest a recommended open version, such as recommending the IcedTea6 plugin (which I presume would have the appropriate OpenJDK packages as dependencies).

For those of us who used this package as a "shortcut" for setting up a new system might want a separate "media" package if the "restricted" nomenclature is no longer appropriate.

[CeesSluis (testcees)]

Java is no longer included in the 32 bit version. But the 64 bit version still installs both the sun as the openjdk java.

[Christian Wolf (christianwolf)]

Unfortunately, the web plugin for OpenJDK is broken in Jaunty and Karmic (and might stay broken...), see bug #344705: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/openjdk-6/+bug/344705

For the most users, and all Ubuntu beginners, OpenJDK in this current state is useless; Java applets only work with the sun-java-6 packages.

 I therefore suggest to add the package "sun-java6-plugin" as dependency until the OpenJDK plugin will work again (which might be Karmic+1....).

[No (11111nonononono-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

An updated package is now in my testing PPA. Please test it and report if it fixes this issue.
Thanks!
https://launchpad.net/~simono/+archive/ppa

[Christian Wolf (christianwolf)]

Your package looks fine but is not fetching anything here (neither Java nor anything else, fresh Karmic Beta, all additional updates installed).

[No (11111nonononono-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Christian, I'm not really sure what you mean. When I add the PPA to the Software sources on the Karmic Beta Live CD and do a sudo aptitude install ubuntu-restricted-extras it wants to install sun-java6-plugin along with many other packages.

[Christian Wolf (christianwolf)]

Simon,

I tried again, still not pulling any of the dependencies it is supposed to pull. It just quietly installs, and that is it. I tried with Gdebi and also dpkg -i from the command line. However, I can not rule out that (my) Karmic Beta installation is broken - yesterday I had problems fecthing updates and today, Gdebi window does not want to close.

[No (11111nonononono-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

I'm not sure if gdebi installs recommended software. And dpkg doesn't fetch dependencies at all.
What you need to do is:
Add ppa:simono/ppa in the Ubuntu Software Center (under Software Sources). Now you can install the package (check if the version is 37~ppa1).

[No (11111nonononono-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Christian, can you confirm that my package fixes your issue? karmic is approaching and it would be nice if we could get this in before it's too late.

[Christian Wolf (christianwolf)]

Your package is a s good as the .36, it is pulling all the goodies from the repositories incl. Sun Java plugin, but only when installed via synaptic from your PPA as additional software source.

It is, like the "original" metapackage, not doing anything when being installed via direkt download and gdebi as it only "recommends" but does not "requires" the other packages.

So your package is as good as the former and does pull sun-java6-plugin, but I am really surprised why Michael Vogt chose this way - people coming from windows, trying to download and install the package will think it is broken as it does not do the job. Not your fault, but IMHO a design bug in the original ubuntu-restricted-extras.

[No (11111nonononono-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

The old version (36) didn't recommend sun-java6-plugin on i386 which 37 does.
I don't think that downloading the package and installing it via gdebi is a common use case.
It is a recommendation because ubuntu-restricted-extras is a meta-package. The nice thing about recommends is, that you can de-select them.

[No (11111nonononono-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

This change will align the amd64 and i386 package.
Diff:
http://bazaar.launchpad.net/%7Esimono/ubuntu/karmic/ubuntu-restricted-extras/fixes-bug-359934/diff/40

[Sarah Kowalik (hobbsee-deactivatedaccount)]

The recommends will not be changed back to depends - this allows people to remove elements of the restricted extras, without removing the restricted-extras package itself.

[No (11111nonononono-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Sarah, exactly. That's why I'm proposing to to add sun-java6-plugin as a recommendation to u-r-e.

[Christian Wolf (christianwolf)]

Thank you Simon for updating the package.

Re the "recomends" issue, I do not want to start a discussion here, since the original bug is fixed, but as a last suggestion here:

Please consider that people who want to remove single packages are not those who actually need this meta-package. They know how to use package management and could install the required packages without *-restricted-extras.

The beginners and Windows converts have no use from this package in its current form as it is not working when they install it as beginners do - via direkt download and double click. Again: Those who can install it via package mangement actually do not need *-restricted-extras. And for the target audience, the package in its current form is useless.

It does not matter too much in reality anymore, as more and more beginners use Ubuntu Tweak and get the meta package from there, but this is IMHO (no offense intended) a classical design bug, where a valid technic argument renders the software actual useless for the target audience.

Thank you again for fixing!

[Sarah Kowalik (hobbsee-deactivatedaccount)]

If people are downloading debs via direct download, and double clicking, they're doing it wrong. We deliberately have a very clear add/remove programs section, which is the simplified version of synaptic, and what people should be using. It is built for beginners, and is easier to use than search+find+download+double click - not to mention, gives descriptions for software before downloading them.

If we have documentation about needing to direct download and double click to get software packages which are easily available in the standard repositories, this needs to be changed. Please point these links out if you have seen them.

[Dean Sas (dsas)]

Sarah Hobbs wrote:
> If we have documentation about needing to direct download and double
> click to get software packages which are easily available in the
> standard repositories, this needs to be changed. Please point these
> links out if you have seen them.

The system documentation tells users to use software centre. It later
mentions synaptic and after that mentions that you can download and
install software but that this is not recommended.

How many people actually read it vs continuing on with their Windows/OSX
behaviour is another things..

[Benjamin Drung (bdrung)]

I have applied your patch, changed your changelog entry to make your change clearer (check the changelog for version 35), and fix some lintian warnings.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package ubuntu-restricted-extras - 37

---------------
ubuntu-restricted-extras (37) lucid; urgency=low

  [ Simon Olofsson ]
  * Prefer sun-java6-plugin over icedtea6-plugin on i386, too (LP: #359934)

  [ Benjamin Drung ]
  * Bump Standards-Version to 3.8.3
  * Add ${misc:Depends} to Depends
  * Remove unsused ${*-restricted-extras:Depends} from Depends
  * Refer to versioned GPL-2
  * debian/rules: Remove binary-indep target tasks, because we do not build
    architecture-independent packages
 -- Benjamin Drung <email address hidden> Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:56:07 +0100

[No (11111nonononono-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Thanks, Benjamin!

[Heimen Stoffels (vistaus)]

Why is Java now again preferred over IcedTea? Java isn't getting updates from Ubuntu since it is in Multiverse. And IcedTea works like a charm since 9.10

[Przemek K. (azrael)]

I think it was because of Bug #344705 which was mentioned earlier here.

[No (11111nonononono-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Vistaus, Sun's Java isn't "preferred" over IcedTea. It's just that IcedTea might not work for everybody so were including an alternative in ubuntu-restricted-extras. u-r-e isn't installed by default. Hopefully we can remove u-r-e at all, when there's an open source alternative for all the packages included :)

[Heimen Stoffels (vistaus)]

So users of the restricted extras have to stick with a not-by-ubuntu updated Sun Java? Nice idea! Not.

[Pjotr12345 (computertip)]

Vistaus +1

It's completely irresponsible, to put an outdated and insecure JRE in ubuntu-restricted-extras. Either put a secure version of JRE in u-r-e, and then keep JRE secure, by providing updates for it. Or don't put it in u-r-e at all, and preferably not even in the repo's.

Nearly everyone installs u-r-e in Ubuntu. This way, they are all at risk, because few people realize that thereby they install an insecure JRE version. I think this is totally and utterly unacceptable.

[Benjamin Drung (bdrung)]

ubuntu-restricted-extras contains restricted in its name. In an ideal world you wouldn't need this package. The switched dependency is due to bug #344705. When the IcedTea plugin works like Sun's Java plugin, the dependencies can be changed back.

BTW, according to popcon [1] 25 % have ubuntu-restricted-extras installed.

[1] http://popcon.ubuntu.com/

[Dave Stroud (bigdavesr)]

This is still a problem in lucid. Icetea does not work for me. and I cant install sun java.This needs to be fixed.