Felipe Gaucho's Blog: Community: linux.java.net Archives

VMWare is distributed as an executable file, so you just need to click on it to get the virtual machine player running on your computer. A special note is about some configuration changes suggested by default during the installation, as shown in the figure below:

Click here for detailed installation instructions.

Step #2 Running Ubuntu Linux on the VMWare Player

First of all, you need to unpack the Linux image you've just downloaded. Follow these steps:
1. Install 7-zip: it comes as an executable file, just run it and accept the default options - no danger here ;). Since 7-zip is suggested here just to unpack the RAR file, you can uninstall it after this step, despite I suggest you to play with this nice Open Source tool in order to evaluate its value before throwing it away.
2. On Windows Explorer, right click on the Ubuntu_704_VMware.rar file and select 7-zip/Extract here. Done, wait until the unpack process is done to finish and you are ready to taste Linux on your machine.
Open the virtual machine player: Windows Start Menu / All programs / VMWare / VMWare Player
When the VMWare startups, it asks you to point the file Ubuntu.vmdk (the one just extracted by 7-zip). Navigate to that file and press OK
The next window asks you about the location of the virutal machine configuration, just accept the suggestion and press OK
The next window is a weird alert about the absense of the Ubuntu CD-ROM, just ignore it and press OK.

The first window of the system will ask you to login:

		(Benutzername) - Username: jars
		(Passwort)    - Password: jars

If everything is fine, Ubuntu will be loaded into the player - Welcome to Linux!
Navigating between the operational systems (Ctrl + Alt): do you notice now you have two different operational systems running on your machine? You can use both at the same time, testing usability and evaluating by yourself how to do things in both environments. To navigate between the virtual machine player and the host Windows OS:
- Inside Ubuntu: just click Ctrl+Alt to return to Windows.
- On Windows, just click with the mouse button on the VMWare window and you will be transferred to the Linux system.
Very easy, isn't it? Remember the mouse will be locked inside the VMWare window when you are using Ubuntu. To see a window beside the active one and to not be allowed to click on it is an unatural usability for Windows users, but you'll become accustomed very quickly to that :)

Step #3 Configuring Ubuntu to your keyboard/language

The Ubuntu image you are running comes in German by default - thanks jars.de for distributing the image. For most users, German is not the default language and the keyboard may also startup wrongly configured at the first time. Here there are some few steps you must proceed in order to get comfortable usability from your new operating system.

Changing the locale configuration: in the Ubuntu menu, select System/Administration/Sprachunterstützung

Important: for some reason, under VMWare the locale was not update automatically after I press OK. The solution is windows-like ;) I pressed the red button on the top right corner of the operational system, and logout the system (Ausschalten or Neu starten). After restart the Ubuntu on the VMWare player, it comes with the selected language working fine. I guess through line commands everything should work smoothly, but I am trying to keep it simple, so I suggest the MS-style reboot procedure to fix the locale :)
Changing the keyboard configuration: in the Ubuntu menu, select System/Einstellungen/Tastatur

then you must select your hardware configuration. Tip: if you don't know what it is, just press Ctrl+Alt and then check in your windows control panel about the hardware configuration of your machine.

Now you are ready to enjoy Linux. Of course you will need some time to figure out the tricks about the new operational system but there are several sources of knowledge about that on the Internet. I suggest you two starting points to discover more about your new toy:

Step #4 Playing Java on Linux

A long time ago dream is every day more simple to become reality. Ubuntu Feisty Fawn is the first Linux distribution that comes with the Java platform embeded by default. We have a lot of tricks to be discussed here, but for now the most important is to get it running. In order to test Java installed in your new Ubuntu, just trigger Eclipse from the operation system menu:

Done! Now you select the workspace folder, and leave it running in your new desktop:

Netbeans and Glassfish

The image provided by jars.de comes without Netbeans and Glassfish. There is a simple line command to download and install everything at once. Open a console - at the OS menu: Applications/Acessories/Terminal and then run the following line:

sudo aptitude install sun-java6-jdk sun-java6-javadb glassfish netbeans5.5

You will be asked to confirm some license agreements and to download the Netbeans tar file and copy it to the temp directory. Here it worked without any problems.

VMWare player is free, but the tool required to create the images not. For that reason, I cannot publish a ready for using version of Ubuntu, in english and with full JEE5 platform :). But I am sure it is a question of short-time to some one provide us such version. A good chance is the linux.java.net community.

Moving to Linux

Posted by felipegaucho on November 17, 2005 at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)

During a recent debate about Java, Linux and OSS I have observed that some old fears are still alive and are still avoiding a collaboration between the OSS community and the Java community. Underneath the traditional flames involved in such discussion, there is an open question to be answered: Why the Java developers don't use Linux as development platform ?. I know Linux users could think it is an odd assertion, but I perceive much more Java developers using Windows than Linux.

I don´t have intention to promote another discussion about Linux vs Windows or Java vs Whatever, but I´m looking for the reason that keep the Java users away from the free plataform. More important, I´m looking for comfortable ways of attracting more Java people to Linux. Believe me: it is not an easy task - to remove people from their controlled environment and push them into the unknown environment - new tools, new commands and even the simple task needing a reading of a book or a manual. These first frightful steps avoid many of my friends to adopt linux and I think it is our duty to maintain an open mind in order to facilitate this culture migration.

Some of the traditional issues about Java on Linux:

Distros without Java environment: despite the usage of open source tools by the majority of the Java developers, almost no distro comes with an integrated Java development environment. From the point of view of the OSS community, an Open Source software should not depend on a proprietary software - and the JVM license is a proprietary one. Some initiatives such as the Apache Harmony are working around this eternal conflict trying to produce an entirely Open Source Java Virtual Machine.
The legacy of the environment configuration: many Java developers are already using integration tools and configuration strategies on Windows, and many of these tools require a reconfiguration in order to run on Linux. One can argue the simplicity of such configuration but not all people are ready to spend days or weeks refactoring things that are working fine. Comfort is the key problem here.
Dependency of proprietary tools: java development is not only Java programming. The processes adopted by the companies include comunication, continuous integration, tests, quality and reprts - every tools related to the management of a Java Project. MS Project is the most obvious example of a tool that few people are ready to abandon in the name of the Linux. There are several other examples, including some complex development environment that depend on a set of comercial products that could force the definition of new processes in some enterprises. Comfort, money and risk are concerns here.
Fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) : several people comment about the comfort in using an operational system for more than ten years - they know almost every important command of Windows, and they are so accustomed to the windows environment that they simply give up to try other systems. A very common perception is about the lack of information - the recent versions of the Linux distros comes with an usability very similar to Windows and perhaps with much better functions in some cases. Installation process, an old nightmare, has been shaped in a dummy level and some distros like Suse and Fedora includes visual wizards that make installation very easy.

Moving on

Well, in order to brake the inertia caused by the discomfort of a complete migration from Windows to Linux platform, I have created a checklist about how to move to Linux:

Choose the Open Source tools: almost every tool used by the Java community have a Linux distribution. The first step of the proposed migration is to find the tools you need in the Linux platform. A complete list is not reasonable because it depends on the particular needs of each user. Due to that I just recommend you to check the extensive list provided by the Java-Source.net. The most popular list should include the following items:
- IDEs: Eclipse , NetBeans , JDeveloper.
- Build tools: Ant , Maven , others.
- Continuous integration: Cruise Control.
- Web Server / J2EE Container: Tomcat , JBoss , Geronimo , others.
- UML Modelers: Umbrello , Jude , others.
- Database: MySql , PostgreSQL , HSQLDB, others.
- Version Control: CVS, subversion, others.
- Issue trackers: iTracker , Bugzilla , others.
- Office suite: OpenOffice, gnome office
- Project managment tools: XPlanner, others.
Choose the flavor of your Linux: this is one of more delicious part. Different of Windows and other proprietary operational systems, Linux provide you a large number of possibilities, from the raw systems to the easy-to-use environments. There are several lists about Linux distributions on the web and I suggest you to choose the most popular ones in the beginning of your migration.
Register yourself into a discussion list (optional): A powerful way to learn something is to discuss it with experienced persons. Linux has a large community, it should be easy to find a community in your country or in your language.
Read some introduction books (optional): there are some online books in the Google Print and also a large number of publications about Linux and about Java Programming on Linux. Check it out.
The installation phase: after downloading and installing some of the above tools, you are able to start working on Linux. The installation process could be messy and you should be patient in order to get all the things working togheter.

The VMWare and the bootable Live CDs

Some interesting tools that can be useful if you are not sure about the Linux usage: the operational systems running on virtual machines and the magician Linux CD which runs fully configured from a single machine reboot. Recently, the VMWare released a free VMWare player - it allows you to run the Linux into your Windows system without installing anything unless the vmware player. There is some pre-built virtual machines available on the web.

Other good alternative to evaluate Linux before installing a distribution into you HD is to use a Live CD. There are a lot of distributions based on live CD, basically a CD you load into your CD-Rom - after that, just reset the computer and the Linux will be alive on your machine. You can use these CDs to evaluate what is the best Linux distribution for your needs, and also to test that strange distribution just for fun.

Well, that´s it! I hope this long entry help you to think about the usage of Linux in your day-by-day. I am working here in my community in order to help other developers to adopt Linux because I believe the operational system is the last commercial software many people are still using - there is a strange feeling in using a lot of Open Source tools on a comercial plataform - why if we have free choices?. There is a lot of other choices, such as Solaris or commercial platforms, but the majority of my friends are still imprisoned into Windows and much of this scenario is caused by our comfortable inertia.

Let's produce more Open Source Software with Java and let's produce them on Linux.

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