Java plugin for Firefox 3 on OpenSuse 11 (64 bit)

From: "andrew cooke" <andrew@...>

Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:16:13 -0400 (CLT)

This is what I had to do to get Java plugin workingon OpenSuse 64 bit with
Firefox 3:

- In Yast (install programs), when I searched for "firefox" I did not see
a 32bit package.  So instead, I had to select the installed (64 bit)
package, then click on the "versions" tab and select the latest "i586"
version (this was the same version number os the x86_64 package installed
previously).

- Because (I think) this forces the Firefox from the 32bit repo, rather
than a 32bit package from the 64bit repo, dependencies don't work quite
right.  As a consequence, doing that alone gets the error "Could not find
compatible GRE between version 1.9.0.1 and 1.9.0.1." when you run FIrefox
from the command line.

- To fix the above, also select mozilla-xulrunner190-32bit from Yast.

- Move my old ~/.mozilla directory somewhere else (this means all settings
are lost - perhaps its not necessary?)

The above (once you let Yast do its thing) gets you 32bit Firefox, but not
Java support.  You may be able to load Java via Yast too, but because I
develop with Java I have various versions instaleld elsewhere.  One of
these is a 32bit JRE (so download a 32bit JRE if necessary).  Then copy or
link the file jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so to 
/usr/lib/browser-plugins/

With that, you can see the Independent's crossword puzzle....

Andrew

The approach above may not be the best solution in general.  According to
this post -
http://linux.derkeiler.com/Newsgroups/alt.os.linux.suse/2008-07/msg00714.html
- this should work "out of the box".  They are using a Java install from
openSuse 11, which is what most people would want to do.

I did not do that because I am a software engineer working with Java and I
need to be able to swap between different Java versions quickly and
reliably, so I install Java separately, by hand.

So please, don't follow my instructions (which seem to be a common google
search result!) unless you are in a similar position.

Instead, try installing Java with YaST.

Andrew