Bug#342309: java-package: can't specify update-alternatives priority; default of 315 too low

[Barry Hawkins]

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severity 342309 wishlist
stop

Elliott Hughes wrote:
[...]
> We're using make-jpkg to provide a package for Sun's JDK throughout the company. We find that
> some random crappy alternatives (SableVM, say, or gij) give themselves higher priorities, so
> we also need to manually "update-alternatives". We'd like to be able to choose our own priority
> for Sun's JDK so we can make it so high it will always be the "best" alternative, unless
> someone's gone out of their way to screw themselves over.
[...]
Elliott,
    Thanks for your use of Debian and java-package.  This is a bug whose
severity is neither "important" or "normal".  The request is to be able
to override the default values for alternatives that are installed by
the packages generated by java-package.  This is an addition of
functionality to the existing program, not the remedy of a bug that is
making the package unusable.
    Also, please bear in mind that Debian will _always_ prefer free
software over non-free.  It may be true that the difference in priority
between certain items like gij or SableVM is a bit large.  However, your
labeling of these programs as "some random crappy alternatives" is
disrespectful to the individuals who have poured hours of uncompensated
effort into getting the state of the free runtimes for the Java(TM)
programming language to where they are today.  Please refrain from using
derogatory terms such as this in your ongoing participation with Debian,
particularly when filing a request that involves the volunteer,
uncompensated contributions from individuals other than yourself.

Sincerely,
- --
Barry Hawkins
All Things Computed
site: www.alltc.com
weblog: www.yepthatsme.com

Registered Linux User #368650
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