/usr/bin/rmic -- why?

[Joel]

(Apologies for the cross-post.)

I asked

> > What are jar, rmiregistry, and who knows what else doing in /usr/bin ?
> >
> > I know that everyone just shoves /usr/local/java/sdk/bin (or whatever)
> > in at the top of $PATH, but I can think of several very good reasons
> > that is not a good idea. So if there's a good reason, I'd like some
> > feedback before I post a bug on this.

Rahul explained

> they are java related packages. they might have been installed by
> default. if you dont want remove them. this is not a bug

and James added

> They're symlinks into the Red Hat alternatives scheme.
> man 8 alternatives says:
> 
>        [...]
> 
> So they allow you to have a number of Java virtual machines, and easily
> swap from one to another.

and then Matthew clarified

> The Jpackage-style Java installs (including the gcj one included in FC3)
> use the alternatives(8) system to manage simultaneous installation of 
> multiple versions.

Okay, I'll dig into the alternatives man page, although I really didn't
want to know about that. Don't plan on using it.

But I did not install any java at all when I installed Fedora. There was
no javac in the same place. Moreover, on this FC2 install, these are not
symbolic links. If they're multiply linked, the links are hard. They do
not show up in /etc/alternatives, nor in anything in /var/lib/alternatives.

Why are jar and rmic in there at all? Are they being used by the system,
and if I remove them will something break? How do I find out what else
to remove?

I really would prefer not to put the directory where I've installed
sun's java at the top of my path, but it looks like I have to put it
there if I want to compile sun-standard java 5 rmi.

--
Joel Rees   <rees at ddcom.co.jp>
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