[OmniOS-discuss] Java paths in OmniOS

[Jim Klimov]

Hi all,

While trying to install Java in OmniOS, I found it delivers one. However, it has 'simplified' the path structure by removing essentially the tree for different jvm versions under /usr/jdk, instead making it equivalent to /usr/java...

In Sun packages, there were /usr/jdk/instances/$manyjavaversions/, a /usr/jdk/latest symlink pointing to ./instances/$somejavaversion and a /usr/java symlink to ./jdk/latest (typically JAVA_HOME=/usr/java) and some 20 binaries like /usr/bin/javac being symlinks to ../java/bin/javac. 

Symlinks like the 'latest' could be easily changed by an admin to choose a particular JVM as default. While the $manyjavaversions could be managed by packaging, this also allowed to pluck in zip-installs and/or customized jvm's (custom timezone updates, ca's, jce settings etc.) to jse certain jvm versions for some obscure software which did not like updates for example.

The new structure all but forbids such customization; was there and particular benefit from changing to it?

Does anything in OmniOS or omniti-ms packages depend on the new paths (can I locally change back to old structure without something strangely misbehaving)?

Thanks,
Jim
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