Alien Pastures

My thoughts on Slackware, life and everything

Tag: java (Page 4 of 10)

OpenJDK security updates Jun’17

May 19, 2017 / / 3 Comments

icedteaFor all lovers and haters of Java: new releases are available for OpenJDK versions 7 as well as 8. On the blog of release manager Andrew Hughes (aka GNU/Andrew) you can find announcements for IcedTea 2.6.10 (which builds OpenJDK 7) and 3.4.0 (which builds OpenJDK 8). The new OpenJDK 7 and 8 releases include the official April 2017 security fixes.

You may think what you want about Java, but it is an important piece of software tech and ubiquitous, so I will keep releasing Slackware packages for as long as I can. My package support goes back to Slackware 13.37 which is the oldest release I personally recommend – if you are using an even older release, it’s probably because your hardware is very old or weak… in that case, you do not want to use something like Java anyway.

Here is where you can download the Slackware packages:

The “rhino” package (implementation of the JavaScript engine used by OpenJDK) is an external dependency for OpenJDK 7, you can find a package in my repository. It is not needed for OpenJDK 8 because that contains its own internal implementation of a JavaScript engine, called Nashorn.

Note about usage:

My Java 7 and Java 8 packages (e.g. openjdk7 and openjdk… or openjre7 and openjre) can not co-exist on your computer because they use the same installation directory. You must install either Java 7 or Java 8.

Remember that I release packages for the JRE (runtime environment) and the JDK (development kit) simultaneously, but you only need to install one of the two. The JRE is sufficient if you only want to run Java programs (including Java web plugins). Only in case where you’d want to develop Java programs and need a Java compiler, you are in need of the JDK package.

Plugin support in Web Browsers:

If you want to use Java in a web browser then you’ll have to install my icedtea-web package too. Oracle’s JDK contains a browser plugin, but that one is closed-source. Therefore Icedtea offers an open source variant which does a decent job.

Note that icedtea-web is a NPAPI plugin – this prevents the use of Java in Chrome & Chromium because those browsers only support PPAPI plugins. Formally, Mozilla have also ceased to support the NPAPI plugins. For instance Firefox 52 and newer does not support NPAPI plugins, although Firefox ESR 52 still supports them. If you can’t do without, then you can use Java plugins with the Pale Moon browser, which is based on an older Firefox codebase and maintained independently.

Have fun! Eric

OpenJDK 7 security update Jan ’17

February 15, 2017 / / 1 Comment

icedteaAndrew Hughes (aka GNU/Andrew) has created a new release for IcedTea 2.6.x (which is the series targeting Java7) to allow the creation of an OpenJDK 7 package with the Java security fixes for January 2017 included.

I do realize that Java8 is the more popular version currently but as long as there are security updates for OpenJDK 7, I will try to put those into Slackware packages. So today, here’s OpenJDK 7u131_b00 – or “Java 7 Update 131 Build 00” for you. In fact two packages as always: the JRE and the JDK (which includes the JRE).

As is customary, Andrew provides release notes on his blog that list the vulnerabilities (CVE’s) which are being plugged with the new release. I used to paste those into my own blog articles but I rather give Andrew the credits, so please visit his latest post dubbed “[SECURITY] IcedTea 2.6.9 for OpenJDK 7 Released!“.

If you are still in need of Java 7 and have my older package installed, please upgrade your OpenJDK 7 to this new release. Here is where you can download the Slackware packages:

The “rhino” package (implementation of the JavaScript engine used by OpenJDK) is an external dependency for OpenJDK 7, you can find a package in my repository.

Note about usage:

My Java 7 and Java 8 packages (e.g. openjdk7 and openjdk… or openjre7 and openjre) can not co-exist on your computer because they use the same installation directory. You must install either Java 7 or Java 8.

Remember that I release packages for the JRE (runtime environment) and the JDK (development kit) simultaneously, but you only need to install one of the two. The JRE is sufficient if you only want to run Java programs (including Java web plugins). Only in case where you’d want to develop Java programs and need a Java compiler, you are in need of the JDK package.

Optionally: If you want to use Java in a web browser then you’ll have to install my icedtea-web package too. Oracle’s JDK contains a browser plugin, but that one is closed-source. Therefore Icedtea offers an open source variant which does a decent job.

Plugin support in Web Browsers:

Note that icedtea-web is a NPAPI plugin – this prevents the use of Java in Chrome & Chromium because those browsers only support PPAPI plugins, but you’ll be OK with all Mozilla [-compatible] browsers of course. For how long, I do not know. Mozilla have announced they will deprecate NPAPI in their browsers back in 2015.
And even though the plugins are still supported (but require manual activation now) there’s a very recent post on the blog of Firefox software engineer Mike Kaply where he mentions that Firefox 52 will be the first release that will no longer support NPAPI plugins at all (except for Flash but only for a few more releases to come). Remember, we are currently at Firefox version 51. Mike Kaply also mentions that the ESR releases of Firefox (i.e. the Extended Support Releases) will continue to support the NPAPI plugins!
So: Firefox 52: no more plugins. And Firefox ESR 52: plugins still supported.

Have fun! Eric

Openjdk (Java8) updated with January fixes

January 29, 2017 / / 3 Comments

icedteaThe icedtea project have released version 3.3.0 of their IcedTea build framework. This release updates the OpenJDK 8 support with the October 2016 bug fixes from OpenJDK 8 u112 and the January 2017 security fixes from OpenJDK 8 u121. Another point of notice is that improved font rendering is being worked on. The ‘infinality patches’ to freetype will be used for this. While I did not enable it in my package, IcedTea no longer requires a patched freetype. Infinality support should be enabled by default from IcedTea 3.4.0 onwards.

Compiling OpenJDK using IcedTea has resulted in the openjdk-8u121_b13 package for Slackware (Java 8 Update 121 Build 13). Next to the JDK there’s also the JRE package of course.

Here is list of security fixes and CVE‘s as taken from the announcement on Andrew Hughes’s blog:

Download locations for the JDK and JRE packages:

If your applications are not yet ready for Java 8, I still maintain the Java 7 packages under new names:”openjdk7″ and “openjre7”. Note that my Java 7 and Java 8 packages (e.g. openjdk7 and openjdk) can not co-exist on your computer because they use the same installation directory.

There is no more need for a separate “rhino” package (implementation of the JavaScript engine used by OpenJDK) because in OpenJDK 8, this functionality is provided natively using the internal “nashorn” library.

Note about usage:

Remember that I release packages for the JRE (runtime environment) and the JDK (development kit) simultaneously, but you only need to install one of the two. The JRE is sufficient if you only want to run Java programs (including Java web plugins). Only in case where you’d want to develop Java programs and need a Java compiler, you are in need of the JDK package.

Optionally: If you want to use Java in a web browser then you’ll have to install my icedtea-web package too. While Oracle’s JDK contains a browser plugin, that one is closed-source and therefore Icedtea offers an open source variant which does a decent job. Note that icedtea-web is a NPAPI plugin – this prevents use of Java in Chrome & Chromium because those browsers only support PPAPI plugins, but you’ll be OK with all Mozilla [-compatible] browsers of course.

Have fun! Eric

Java 7 (openjdk) gets a security update

November 15, 2016 / / 3 Comments

icedteaMany people who have a need for Java, will already have switched to Java 8. Nevertheless there are still many places where Java 7 is preferred or even required. So, I am riding on the Q4 security updates for OpenJDK and used the recently released icedtea 2.6.8 to compile OpenJDK 7u121_b00 or “Java 7 Update 121 Build 00”. As always, there is a JDK and a JRE package.

Andrew Hughes has posted about this new release, and I copied the security related changes here:

Obviously, you are strongly urged to upgrade your OpenJDK 7 to this new release. Download locations for the JDK and JRE packages (Java 7 version):

The “rhino” package (implementation of the JavaScript engine used by OpenJDK) is an external dependency for OpenJDK 7, you can find a package in my repository.

Note about usage:

My Java 7 and Java 8 packages (e.g. openjdk7 and openjdk… or openjre7 and openjre) can not co-exist on your computer because they use the same installation directory. You must install either Java 7 or Java 8.

Remember that I release packages for the JRE (runtime environment) and the JDK (development kit) simultaneously, but you only need to install one of the two. The JRE is sufficient if you only want to run Java programs (including Java web plugins). Only in case where you’d want to develop Java programs and need a Java compiler, you are in need of the JDK package.

Optionally: If you want to use Java in a web browser then you’ll have to install my icedtea-web package too. While Oracle’s JDK contains a browser plugin, that one is closed-source and therefore Icedtea offers an open source variant which does a decent job. Note that icedtea-web is a NPAPI plugin – this prevents use of Java in Chrome & Chromium because those browsers only support PPAPI plugins, but you’ll be OK with all Mozilla [-compatible] browsers of course.

Have fun! Eric

Q4 2016 fixes for Java 8 (openjdk)

November 9, 2016 / / 1 Comment

icedteaThe icedtea project have released version 3.2.0 of their IcedTea build framework. This was done to mirror Oracle’s recent Critical Patch Update which brings OpenJDK to version 8u111_b14 or “Java 8 Update 111 Build 14”  (and the JRE too of course).

Here is the long-ish list of security fixes and CVE‘s as taken from the announcement on Andrew Hughes’s blog:

Download locations for the JDK and JRE packages (updates for Slackware 13.37 and 14.0 are still pending):

http://www.slackware.com/~alien/slackbuilds/openjdk/

http://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/people/alien/slackbuilds/openjdk/
(rsync URI: rsync://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/people/alien/slackbuilds/openjdk/)

If your applications are not yet ready for Java 8, I still maintain the Java 7 packages under new names:”openjdk7″ and “openjre7”. Note that my Java 7 and Java 8 packages (e.g. openjdk7 and openjdk) can not co-exist on your computer because they use the same installation directory.

There is no more need for a separate “rhino” package (implementation of the JavaScript engine used by OpenJDK) because in OpenJDK 8, this functionality is provided natively using the internal “nashorn” library.

Note about usage:

Remember that I release packages for the JRE (runtime environment) and the JDK (development kit) simultaneously, but you only need to install one of the two. The JRE is sufficient if you only want to run Java programs (including Java web plugins). Only in case where you’d want to develop Java programs and need a Java compiler, you are in need of the JDK package.

Optionally: If you want to use Java in a web browser then you’ll have to install my icedtea-web package too. While Oracle’s JDK contains a browser plugin, that one is closed-source and therefore Icedtea offers an open source variant which does a decent job. Note that icedtea-web is a NPAPI plugin – this prevents use of Java in Chrome & Chromium because those browsers only support PPAPI plugins, but you’ll be OK with all Mozilla [-compatible] browsers of course.

Have fun! Eric

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