Switching between OpenJDK v.6 and v.7 in Debian 7 Wheezy

In Debian 7 Wheezy for the architecture amd64 (most of the modern 64-bit architectures) the default OpenJDK is OpenJDK v.6.

But what if you want OpenJDK v.7 (Java 7)?

Debian Wiki ( http://wiki.debian.org/Java ) already have the answer, what and how to do, but this answer mining should take you for a while...

Here is the howto.

First, open the terminal and
$ su -l

Now install the JDKs:
# aptitude install default-jdk default-jre openjdk-6-jre openjdk-6-jdk openjdk-7-jre openjdk-7-jdk java-common

This will take you for a while.

At Debian 7 the default JDK/JRE version is managed by the 'alternatives' system. So, to list the available (installed) JDKs, type:
# update-java-alternatives -l
The output will be like this:
java-1.6.0-openjdk-amd64 1061 /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.6.0-openjdk-amd64
java-1.7.0-openjdk-amd64 1051 /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.7.0-openjdk-amd64

Now let's switch to Java 7:
# update-java-alternatives -s java-1.7.0-openjdk-amd64

That's all!

Please, check the Java version:
$ java -version
$ javac -version
In both cases, the versions should be like 1.7.*

Enjoy!

Installing Skype at Debian 7 'Wheezy' for AMD64 architecture

Hi all,

About a month ago Debian Community released the long-awaited Debian 7 'Wheezy':
http://www.debian.org/News/2013/20130504

It includes a lot of new features. The most notable, of course, is GNOME 3 user interface. It's amazing!

GNOME 3 Screenshot

Skype at Debian 7

Most of the user computers now are 64-bit machines (usually everything works fine with AMD64 version). But Skype provides binaries only for 32-bit architecture (i386). Fortunately, Milti-Arch support at Debian solves this problem!

Debian Wiki page about Skype ( http://wiki.debian.org/skype ) is written in a too complicated way. It took me a while to understand: what is connected to what?

To simplify Debian users' life, here is the

Step by step installation manual

Install Debian 7 'Wheezy' (I'm using AMD64 version). Straight forward process: http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/amd64/ . Nothing special.

After finishing installation, open Terminal (in GNOME 3: Activities -> Applications -> Terminal).

Log in as root:
$ su -l
If you disabled root login during the installation process, you may run $ sudo bash OR insert sudo in front of the following commands.

Now add the new architecture i386:
# dpkg --add-architecture i386
# aptitude clean && aptitude update

Install libpulse:
# aptitude install libpulse0 libpulse0:i386

Then, download Skype:
# wget -O skype-install.deb http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-linux-deb

WARNING: Fork: Here this manual way diverges from presented one at Debian Wiki!

Install Skype dependencies:
# dpkg-deb --field skype-install.deb Depends
# aptitude install <every package from the dpkg-deb output, adding :i386 suffix>

Closing the finish line, install Skype itself:
# dpkg --install skype-install.deb

The last thing to do is to enable "[x] Check for update on startup" in the ‘Advanced’ tab of the options menu in Skype. In this case Skype will notify you about new versions.

That's all! :) Enjoy!

Simplenote clients for Android-based device

Today, alone with my friend, I had tested Simplenote-compatible apps for Android.

The best for me is JadeNote. The only one unfavorable point of this app is syncronisation of my shared notes, changed by another person. I can not understand the reason, why JadeNote did not see this changes from time to time. But sometimes, when the stars are going right, I think, ;) this simplenote client works fine with this shared items. :)

ZenPhoto: Powerful tool to make photo galleries

After relocation of my family's web-site davimas.name to Dreamhost, I get the ability to place entire photos from Nuclear Physics Conferences and many other images, too large to be published using Flikr or Pikasa. But what software is the most suitable to manage multi-album, tree-like set of photos?