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!

Way from Athens, OH to College Station, TX @ 2013-03-02

Hi all,

https://plus.google.com/photos/114763874066147257538/albums/5890960614150781649 - Here are the photos, I made on the way from Athens, OH to College Station, TX at 02 of March this year.

Columbus, OH; 2013-03-02

Dallas/Ft.Worth. TX; 2013-03-02

It was a sounding jump from the winter to the spring in one day! :)

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!

Photos I made during my visit to OU @ Athens, OH in February, 2013

Hi all,

Hope you are doing well.

https://plus.google.com/photos/114763874066147257538/albums/5890265569165269137
Here are the photos I made during my visit to Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, OH in February.

It was an awesome experience! Prof. Charlotte Elster compared Athens with small German towns. I never was at Germany, but expect to see something like this.

Just before couple of days before my arrival the temperature fell down to -16 Celsius. Fortunately, during February the lowest temperatures were about -9 C only.

Enjoy!
More photos are on the way.

I shall try it!!!111 :)

Another funny photo

This happens... Time to time... :)

Google Reader, RIP

Just finished reading the news from the feed of Google Reader. That's all.

Google Reader, RIP... Thanks for a good service!

Bye-bye, Google Reader! One more out...

One of my friends commented post "Bye-bye, Posterous!", delivering the news that Google Reader is on the last lap too:

http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2013/03/powering-down-google-reader.html?m=1

One more is out... That's sad. How shall I read the news now?...

By-bye, Posterous!

http://blog.posterous.com/thanks-from-posterous

On April 30th, we will turn off posterous.com and our mobile apps in order to focus 100% of our efforts on Twitter. This means that as of April 30, Posterous Spaces will no longer be available either to view or to edit.

I used this service during about 2 years to easily publish my posts. That's sad, but they are closing down.

Bye-bye, Posterous!

:)

Another funny photo. :)