Yes clarify this a bit more for us linux noobs

But does the JRE really stop working after 90 days? Or is it only the license stating that you shouldn't use it after that time?

Thats what It says - does mention timing out after 90 days.

OK n00bz...listen up

The downloaded file is a gzipped tar (.tar.gz) archive. It's just a different kinda zipfile...it uses a different process for storing and compressing data, but conceptually they're similar.

I don't have a utility on my N900 to open these yet, so I downloaded it onto my PC. I run Fedora linux, which automatically fires up an archive manager when I dbl-click the file. There are free Windows utilities to handle these files too (try tucows.com).

When you expand (extract, inflate...whatever) this file, it will create a folder called "ejre1.6.0_10" and neatly store all the java software within.

All you need to do is use the "scp" command (Secure CoPy via SSH) with the "-r" option to recursively copy the folder and all its contents to your N900.

You'll need your N900s IP address - there's a very handy little widget for that (thanks to whoever made it!)

example:

scp -r ejre1.6.0_10 root@my.n900.ip.addr:/home/opt/java

(you'll need to create that java folder on your N900 first - go to xterm, use "sudo gainroot" and then type "mkdir /home/opt/java")

Once you get this far, we'll continue the lesson

I'm not sure you're helping there - most n00bz won't have ssh server installed & configured on their N900!

You'd be better copying the archive straight onto the N900 (connect via USB and choose mass storage mode, copy the file over, then disconnect). Open up an X Terminal, then do:

this requires an OpenSSH daemon running on the N900. If you don' know what that means or don't want to install yet another application, you can just copy the ejre folder with the (windows) GUI onto the tablet, and use XTerminal to move it from /home/user/MyDocs/ejre to /opt

the command(s) would look like this:

Code:

sudo gainroot
mkdir /opt/java
cd /home/user/MyDocs
mv ejre1.6.0_10 /opt/java

i'm sorry i forgot that mydocs is of course a vfat and will loose needed executable flags.
the above is wrong, do this instead:
copy the .tar.gz (or .tgz, haven't d/l it yet) on the n900, then
btw, /home/opt and /opt are the same.

thanks... will forward this to the SageTV company...hopefully they can do this for me and others

Ok, I'm ready for the next part of this lesson.

Next, you'll need to install a link to the main java program, so that when you open an xterm and type "java" it knows what you're talking about.

If you've followed my choice of folder location, the java program is located in /home/opt/java/ejre1.6.0_10/bin/java

Open an xterm and use "sudo gainroot" again.

Then type "ln -s /home/opt/java/ejre1.6.0_10/bin/java /usr/local/bin/java"

This will create a "symlink" (a Symbolic Link....basically a pointer to a file or folder) in /usr/local/bin. You could create it in /usr/bin, but I prefer to keep things separate.

You will also need to alter your /etc/profile file slightly. Open it up (with vi)

vi /etc/profile

...and look at the line beginning with "export PATH="

You need to add ":/usr/local/bin" to the end of the path (inside the quotes).

Now you will be able to download Java SE jarfiles and run them by typing "java -jar somejarfile.jar"

I'm working on registering the ".jar" extension so that you can just dbl-click them to run them....I thought I had it figured out, but it's not working yet.

Hmm, I did as you instructed, but when I open xterm and type "sudo gainroot" followed by "java -jar test.jar" I get:

/bin/sh: java: not found

or did I mess something up.

(when I try "java" without "sudo gainroot" I get "permission denied" but that is to be expected?)

Even if I go directly to /home/opt/java/ejre1.6.0_10/bin and type "java" I get "/bin.sh: java: not found"