In our documentation, we try to give specific information about the installation process in various distributions. Unfortunately, neither one of us uses Arch Linux. Therefore, there are some To do markers in the documentation there. If you can help filling in these, this would be much appreciated. Just post the missing information here and we'll put it on the website.
If you find any other mistakes or inclarities in the documentation, or you have information about other distributions, please do not hesitate to post this as well.
Thank you in advance :-)
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Thanks a lot for your help, it is much appreciated! Also by all Arch users I would imagine :-) I have just added your additions to the page and added a line to give you credit for it. In there, I linked to your SourceForge profile, is that okay? If you want something else or no link at all, please let me know and I will change it as soon as possible.
Regarding your swing.properties addition: we do give a location on Debian, Chakra and Windows. This is an indication however, we might be able to improve that maybe. Thanks to you, we now also give instructions for Arch. I have written a paragraph myself based on your comment. Can you check if you are okay with it as it is right now?
Finally I have a question to you. I think you have compiled everything yourself from source, is that correct? As you may or may not have read, there is also a package for Joxy on Arch. We do not have instructions on how to install that however. Obviously, this is probably just a single line of pacman ... java-swing-joxy-git or something. Could you provide us with information on how to do that on Arch? Thanks in advance!
Cheers!
Thom
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
You're welcome. Sourceforge profile is fine, although I don't really use it. I only registered to make these comments!
Firstly on the Installing page (Arch section) just before the 'Installing the native text rendering library' header there is a typo. Last few words of the sentence should read 'jre is part of the path name.' it currently says path both times.
I like the paragraph you wrote regarding the swing defaults file. There is a strange caveat in that one Java program I found did not follow the links, but when I manually duplicated the file, it used the settings. Unfortunately this also broke the program as I believe they don't implement swing very well in it or something. Not your fault at all, theirs I believe.
Regarding the package vs. compiling from source. On Arch, things work differently, because the 'package' is in the AUR it is not really a package. What it is, is a script that will download the source, compile it, and create a package for you to then manually install. Depending on how the script is written, it may automatically fetch the latest git code before compiling, or it may fetch a fixed version (normally the stable or beta). Personally, I used the AUR package, and so compiled the latest git version on my computer.
This difference requires a different approach to installation. I'm guessing most people on Arch will know how to install from the AUR. However, I am also a believer in creating documentation for all abilities. Therefore I suggest something like the following:
Joxy is available on the Arch User Repository (AUR) as package java-swing-joxy-git [including link]. This can be easily installed using your favourite AUR helper or manually. If you are unsure please see the Arch wiki regarding the AUR (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/AUR) and the helpers (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/AUR_Helpers). For completeness I include some brief instructions on how to install from the AUR.
To manually install from the AUR, downoald the tarball (https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/ja/java-swing-joxy-git/java-swing-joxy-git.tar.gz) and extract it into its own directory. Then go into the directory where you find the file PKGBUILD. It is always advised at this point to check the PKGBUILD to be sure it is ok and will not harm your computer. Make the package by running:
makepkg
inside the folder. This will create a pacman package, which is installed using:
This will install the package on your system. If you installed it manually, don't forget to check for updates because it well require a similar process to manually update. Personally I recommend using a helper for AUR packages.
Under the compiling for Arch section, I would put a note similar to this:
Whilst it is possible to manually compile and install yourself on Arch it is recommended to use the AUR package. This is because the AUR package means you get the latest git version and compile it on your own computer anyway. It also means that pacman has control over every file and package installed on your system, even if that package was created by manually compiling a program via an AUR build script.
Sorry this was such a long post, in hindsight I should have split it up. If you could properly format the links (I'm not sure how to here) that would be great.
Thanks,
Dom
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hi Thom,
I just noticed in the top of your compiling section, you have another note about testing the git installing technique on Arch.
The syntax you have is mostly correct. It must be run as root, so probably 'sudo pacman -S git' would be better.
I would also recommend adding a 'y' flag in because this checks that the local cache of the package list is up to date. This will avoid errors if the package list is a day or two out of date, and git has been updated between times, pacman will try to download the wrong version of the package. My recomendation for the command to install git would be this:
sudo pacman -Sy git
Thanks,
Dom
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Wow, thanks a lot! No problem that you posted everything in one post, I had to read through all of it anyway plus the more detailed the documentation is, the better :-) Just now I updated the site with your latest additions and I think that the documentation for Arch is now completely up-to-date and finished! Also, you are mentioned on all documentation pages in the Arch section now ;-)
Once again I would like to thank you and say how much appreciated your work is :D
Cheers!
Thom
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Regarding the Java program that had problems with using the defaults from the swing.properties file: could you give the name of the program, so that we can test if it really is not a problem in Joxy? Even if it is, we might add a note about that program somewhere on the site or wiki.
Thanks,
Thom
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Certainly, the program was Docear http://www.docear.org/. They are also GPL (or Apache), so if you do happen to go routing around and fix it, I'm sure they'd welcome a patch. I'd have a look myself, but I'm not a Java coder.
Simple way to reproduce it is have Joxy added to the menus as a choosable look and feel for java. Start, Docear, go through settings and choose the joxy look and feel. Restart Docear, and everything is fairly broken.
If you want more specific tests / details, I'm happy to provide them, but I think a different thread would be appropriate.
Thanks,
Dom
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Also thanks from me for improving our documentation!
For Docear, I had a quick look and the problem seems to be the "ribbon" interface that Docear uses. We don't support that on the moment in Joxy. I created a bug-report here.
Willem
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
To find out what the location of your jre, you first need to find out which jre you're running. There are many options on Arch linux, so the simplest way to find which you're using is:
pacman -Qs jre
This does not need to be run as root because it only queries the local database searching for any package with jre in the title. If this does not find any, try searching for jdk or java (in place of jre). Have a look at the Arch wiki page regarding java if you're struggling https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Java.
Once you have found the name of the package providing the java runtime environment, you need to find out where it has placed it. To do this you want to list the files installed by the package. I will use the example of the package jre7-openjdk because that is what's installed on my system.
pacman -Ql jre7-openjdk
This will output a large list of all files and directories, one per line. You will see one line ending in $SOME_PATH/jre/ immediately followed by many lines ending in $SOME_PATH/jre/bin/ and $SOME_PATH/jre/lib/. The location of your jre is the line ending in just $SOME_PATH/jre/. On my system this location is /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk/jre/, I will refer to this here as $JRE.
Inside this folder will be $JRE/lib/ext/ subdirectory. You then continue following the instructions in the guide.
Last edit: Dominic 2013-10-15
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Finding the required location to put the shared library file libjoxy.so.
In the previous section you should have already found $JRE/lib/ext in which to put joxy.jar. In this section we are looking for a folder inside $JRE/lib where it would be apporpriate to place the shared library. There should be a folder relevant to your architecture. In my case this is $JRE/lib/amd64/. This folder should already include many library files (all of the form lib*.so with the * replaced by the library name). I placed the file here.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Regarding the Java swing defaults file. I don't think that you give it's location. I'm not entirely sure myself where the location is, but I tried creating a new file /etc/java-7-openjdk/swing.properties then creating a symbolic link to it inside $JRE/lib/ (to copy the style of the other properties files) and it seemed to work.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
In our documentation, we try to give specific information about the installation process in various distributions. Unfortunately, neither one of us uses Arch Linux. Therefore, there are some To do markers in the documentation there. If you can help filling in these, this would be much appreciated. Just post the missing information here and we'll put it on the website.
If you find any other mistakes or inclarities in the documentation, or you have information about other distributions, please do not hesitate to post this as well.
Thank you in advance :-)
Hi,
I use Arch Linux, and I have just decided I'm sick of the default java look and feel. I'm going to install joxy and see how I get on with it.
The missing bits of documentation I will attempt to provide as I go through the install process and find out how to do certain things.
I'll post them here. Feel free to edit how you see fit.
Also if there's anything else on Arch that I may be able to help with, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
Last edit: Dominic 2013-10-15
Hi Dominic!
Thanks a lot for your help, it is much appreciated! Also by all Arch users I would imagine :-) I have just added your additions to the page and added a line to give you credit for it. In there, I linked to your SourceForge profile, is that okay? If you want something else or no link at all, please let me know and I will change it as soon as possible.
Regarding your
swing.propertiesaddition: we do give a location on Debian, Chakra and Windows. This is an indication however, we might be able to improve that maybe. Thanks to you, we now also give instructions for Arch. I have written a paragraph myself based on your comment. Can you check if you are okay with it as it is right now?Finally I have a question to you. I think you have compiled everything yourself from source, is that correct? As you may or may not have read, there is also a package for Joxy on Arch. We do not have instructions on how to install that however. Obviously, this is probably just a single line of
pacman ... java-swing-joxy-gitor something. Could you provide us with information on how to do that on Arch? Thanks in advance!Cheers!
Thom
Hi Thom,
You're welcome. Sourceforge profile is fine, although I don't really use it. I only registered to make these comments!
Firstly on the Installing page (Arch section) just before the 'Installing the native text rendering library' header there is a typo. Last few words of the sentence should read 'jre is part of the path name.' it currently says path both times.
I like the paragraph you wrote regarding the swing defaults file. There is a strange caveat in that one Java program I found did not follow the links, but when I manually duplicated the file, it used the settings. Unfortunately this also broke the program as I believe they don't implement swing very well in it or something. Not your fault at all, theirs I believe.
Regarding the package vs. compiling from source. On Arch, things work differently, because the 'package' is in the AUR it is not really a package. What it is, is a script that will download the source, compile it, and create a package for you to then manually install. Depending on how the script is written, it may automatically fetch the latest git code before compiling, or it may fetch a fixed version (normally the stable or beta). Personally, I used the AUR package, and so compiled the latest git version on my computer.
This difference requires a different approach to installation. I'm guessing most people on Arch will know how to install from the AUR. However, I am also a believer in creating documentation for all abilities. Therefore I suggest something like the following:
Joxy is available on the Arch User Repository (AUR) as package java-swing-joxy-git [including link]. This can be easily installed using your favourite AUR helper or manually. If you are unsure please see the Arch wiki regarding the AUR (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/AUR) and the helpers (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/AUR_Helpers). For completeness I include some brief instructions on how to install from the AUR.
To manually install from the AUR, downoald the tarball (https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/ja/java-swing-joxy-git/java-swing-joxy-git.tar.gz) and extract it into its own directory. Then go into the directory where you find the file PKGBUILD. It is always advised at this point to check the PKGBUILD to be sure it is ok and will not harm your computer. Make the package by running:
inside the folder. This will create a pacman package, which is installed using:
This will install the package on your system. If you installed it manually, don't forget to check for updates because it well require a similar process to manually update. Personally I recommend using a helper for AUR packages.
Under the compiling for Arch section, I would put a note similar to this:
Whilst it is possible to manually compile and install yourself on Arch it is recommended to use the AUR package. This is because the AUR package means you get the latest git version and compile it on your own computer anyway. It also means that pacman has control over every file and package installed on your system, even if that package was created by manually compiling a program via an AUR build script.
Sorry this was such a long post, in hindsight I should have split it up. If you could properly format the links (I'm not sure how to here) that would be great.
Thanks,
Dom
Hi Thom,
I just noticed in the top of your compiling section, you have another note about testing the git installing technique on Arch.
The syntax you have is mostly correct. It must be run as root, so probably 'sudo pacman -S git' would be better.
I would also recommend adding a 'y' flag in because this checks that the local cache of the package list is up to date. This will avoid errors if the package list is a day or two out of date, and git has been updated between times, pacman will try to download the wrong version of the package. My recomendation for the command to install git would be this:
sudo pacman -Sy git
Thanks,
Dom
Hi Dominic,
Wow, thanks a lot! No problem that you posted everything in one post, I had to read through all of it anyway plus the more detailed the documentation is, the better :-) Just now I updated the site with your latest additions and I think that the documentation for Arch is now completely up-to-date and finished! Also, you are mentioned on all documentation pages in the Arch section now ;-)
Once again I would like to thank you and say how much appreciated your work is :D
Cheers!
Thom
Hi Dominic,
Regarding the Java program that had problems with using the defaults from the
swing.propertiesfile: could you give the name of the program, so that we can test if it really is not a problem in Joxy? Even if it is, we might add a note about that program somewhere on the site or wiki.Thanks,
Thom
Certainly, the program was Docear http://www.docear.org/. They are also GPL (or Apache), so if you do happen to go routing around and fix it, I'm sure they'd welcome a patch. I'd have a look myself, but I'm not a Java coder.
Simple way to reproduce it is have Joxy added to the menus as a choosable look and feel for java. Start, Docear, go through settings and choose the joxy look and feel. Restart Docear, and everything is fairly broken.
If you want more specific tests / details, I'm happy to provide them, but I think a different thread would be appropriate.
Thanks,
Dom
Hi Dominic,
Also thanks from me for improving our documentation!
For Docear, I had a quick look and the problem seems to be the "ribbon" interface that Docear uses. We don't support that on the moment in Joxy. I created a bug-report here.
Willem
To find out what the location of your jre, you first need to find out which jre you're running. There are many options on Arch linux, so the simplest way to find which you're using is:
This does not need to be run as root because it only queries the local database searching for any package with jre in the title. If this does not find any, try searching for jdk or java (in place of jre). Have a look at the Arch wiki page regarding java if you're struggling https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Java.
Once you have found the name of the package providing the java runtime environment, you need to find out where it has placed it. To do this you want to list the files installed by the package. I will use the example of the package jre7-openjdk because that is what's installed on my system.
This will output a large list of all files and directories, one per line. You will see one line ending in $SOME_PATH/jre/ immediately followed by many lines ending in $SOME_PATH/jre/bin/ and $SOME_PATH/jre/lib/. The location of your jre is the line ending in just $SOME_PATH/jre/. On my system this location is /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk/jre/, I will refer to this here as $JRE.
Inside this folder will be $JRE/lib/ext/ subdirectory. You then continue following the instructions in the guide.
Last edit: Dominic 2013-10-15
Finding the required location to put the shared library file libjoxy.so.
In the previous section you should have already found $JRE/lib/ext in which to put joxy.jar. In this section we are looking for a folder inside $JRE/lib where it would be apporpriate to place the shared library. There should be a folder relevant to your architecture. In my case this is $JRE/lib/amd64/. This folder should already include many library files (all of the form lib*.so with the * replaced by the library name). I placed the file here.
Regarding the Java swing defaults file. I don't think that you give it's location. I'm not entirely sure myself where the location is, but I tried creating a new file /etc/java-7-openjdk/swing.properties then creating a symbolic link to it inside $JRE/lib/ (to copy the style of the other properties files) and it seemed to work.