[Tech] Oracle Java on Ubutu 10.04

[James Howard]

> Thanks for this info, James.  Do you foresee us moving to 12.04 LTS
> anytime
> soon?  Thanks

It's probably inevitable. It won't necessarily fix the issue with multiple
Java runtime environments -- some being supported by the distro, some by
the partners, some not at all), and it my not be entirely necessary (we
never install security updates anyway -- we're running middle schools
machines (not banks) behind firewalls (or mid 90's military machines on
public IP's with trivial passwords). GNU/Linux and FOSS browsers don't
seem to be targeted by malware purveyors -- knock on wood. Aside from FOSS
projects being seen as allies by black hats, GNU/Linux distributors opt to
choose security as the default over usability in that trade-off. Best
security practices (which includes keeping most critical security updates
current) are ideal regardless of how important the systems and their data
are, but we simply don't have the manpower to keep on top things to the
extreme.We take reasonable measures, but not rigorous ones.

If you want to set up an automated deployment setup for 12.04 like we have
now (d-i preseed) not much will need to be changed  for the bulk of the
process. We do have a number of gnome 2 custom configs that would have to
be re-engineered for unity (if possible). Or we could always completely
re-think our entire approach.

I will point out on pitfall when constantly upgrading the distribution and
not the hardware: performance. The older distributions run perfectly well,
and while the newer ones are certainly "shinier", they demand more
resources: fast processors, buses, larger caches, more and faster RAM. For
the most part, the equally functional for the basic needs. It's just that
some newer distro will have some new application a client wants, that
isn't available "out of the box" in the older one, and so we have to come
up with workarounds like the one I wrote about in this thread.