as usual, I wanted to update my AUR packages with yay, but got the following message:
$ yay -Sua
:: Searching AUR for updates...
:: There are 8 providers available for java-environment=21:
1) amazon-corretto-21-bin 2) java-openjdk-bin 3) jdk 4) jdk-openjdk-xdg 5) jdk21-jetbrains-bin 6) jdk21-jetbrains-imfix 7) liberica-jdk-full-bin 8) zulu-21-bin
Enter a number (default=1):
Why is yay asking me to install a java environment? Since I already have jre-openjdk and jre-openjdk-headless installed:
Ok, theyâre java 20 and not 21. But is that making a difference? Iâm not that familiar with java, so Iâm unsure what to do. Just waiting until java is updated through pacman or pamac, or should I install one of the versions yay suggests?
I donât want to break anything, since I have some programms relying on java which I use on a daily basis for my work and research.
That was also my first thought. But I donât want to install a second java environment which may conflict with the jre-openjdk. So maybe better wait until the latter is updated through pacman?
Yay will search for updates if you command it to - $ yay -Sua did just that.
Yay isnât simply asking to install a java environment without cause; itâs responding to your question which Iâll paraphrase here: âAre there any updates?â.
Java 20.0.2.u9-3 is found on your system; multiple sources are available for the updated Java 21.x.x - Updates are found, and so Yay answers your question with âYes, there are. Choose oneâ (again, paraphrasing).
Yay will always search and give results from the AUR.
If you installed Java via AUR then it stands to reason that you could also upgrade it as needed from AUR. If you installed from the main repositories (via Pacman) you can confidently ignore AUR results and upgrade with $ pacman -Syu.
If youâre concerned that whatever software you use might have problems with an updated version of Java with all the associated bug-fixes, then maybe a good starting point would be the respective devs of that software.
Because one of your AUR packages has java-environment=21 dependency.
Of course if you were using AUR with Arch, you wouldnât notice that, since =21 is already in repo.
And to expand on that: Now youâll satisfy that dependency with yet another AUR package, letâs say java-openjdk-bin and when stable branch gets its java updated, it wonât matter anyway. Youâll be forever updating that AUR package, because you wonât know any better.
Check with pamac checkupdates all available updates.
You can go into a partial upgrade state when you update the AUR packages manually with pamac build ....
With this, you can check which program so desperately needs Java 21.
The AUR expects that you are running Arch Linux. While Manjaro is mostly compatible there is a delay between packages getting updated on Arch and those updates getting to Manjaro stable branch.
Thatâs exactly whatâs happened here. Arch has java 21 (so does Manjaro unstable branch which updates much quicker and so is closer to real Arch Linux).
Keep in mind that both pamac and yay will also return results from the AUR. Iâve notice AUR package maintainers often pride themselves in staying ahead of the curve, which isnât always a good thing.
As you used pacman to install (from Arch repositories, assuming stable) I would just wait till the next version is deemed ready, unless thereâs a specific need to upgrade sooner.
A general rule-of-thumb - if the programs youâre using have no major issues using the currently installed Java, then you can afford to wait a little to update it.
Yay will keep offering to upgrade to v21 while you have a lower iteration installed. If youâre having trouble dismissing the yay command, try âcontrol + câ to close it; and use pacman -Syu followed by pamac update instead (in that order).
Thanks for the clarification. That was also my first conclusion.
Thats what Iâm propably going to do.
And, of course, I know that Manjaro isnât Arch itself but only depends on it. The question was more about my missing knowledge regarding java (if a missing 21 dependency can do any harm etc.) than how an Arch-based Linux system works. Itâs also clear to me that if I install another java package, I will be updating both simultaneously as long as both are installed.
I always wonder what the point of such slightly cocky comments is. Whats the sense of such a forum if people with âtoo easyâ questions might feel getting mocked by some routiniers? Shouldnât other Linux users be happy if more people use those OSâs? But such behaviour may deter many rather. Iâm not a Linux pro since my childhood 30 years ago, but also not a noob. Just switched to Manjaro last year after a decade of Debian/Ubuntu which just works a little bit different. Seems that you, are using Arch, so why posting such answers in a Manjaro forum and not in the Arch forum (where such a tone seems to be much more common towards new users).
Normally I wouldnât mind, but since Iâm also trying to convince some friends, as well as some of my students to use open-source software and OS, its really annoying to be confronted with such things regularly.
Thanks to everybody for his/her comments and hints (also @zbe since his plain content was helpful) and sorry for the little outburst, but this increasingly impolite tone, which is becoming more and more common everywhere nowadays, just gets on my nerves.
Feel free to flag this post and report it to one of the admins if you think my comment was inappropriate too.
The point is to bring awareness of how illogical advertising Manjaro as a beginner friendly distro is. It has nothing to do with you personally, but it is how it is.
Why? This is like asking âShouldnât mountain-lovers/hikers be happy there is an influx of new hikers in the mountains?â (even if they donât have proper footwear, fitness level, etc.) Because theyâre the ones that need saving usually.
I can only hope. Unless they buy proper footwear. So to say.
Merely convincing someone isnât enough. Are they also ready, capable and willling to do all the work that comes with it?
I guess we live in two different worlds. As I see it itâs the other way around.
Everyone is entitled to everything and god forbid you criticize something. You just come to (any) forum, put zero effort in creating a post - I mean some people canât even write coherent sentences, let alone use proper formatting, post text instead of pictures and give any relevant info, etc. - and because itâs a forum, someone should spend any amount of time and give you the answers without âoffendingâ you?
Again, Iâm not talking about you.
Yes of course. If someone doesnât like something you should just flag, ban and cancel it. Lol I hate this stupid mentality. We should just put a big bubble-wrap around the Earth, so no one gets hurt.
I get your main point. But its like you say, we might see some things different.
Of course, you should be prepared and need to learn. But isnât that better than excluding newbies from the beginning. I never said, Manjaro is beginner friendly. No Linux OS is if youâre only have experience in WinDumb as OS.
But I personally think a bigger community will help in many cases. Also beside using it, it can, for instance, open your eyes regarding open source/access, economy of software/hardware etc. I guess we will never run the risk of converting Linux into a new Windows
Criticising is not a problem, if it is constructive rather than kind of cocky.
Of course, you can only hope for help and constructive critic if you ask in a proper way. Those kind of questions I had in mind, not some kind of trolling.
But if the question doesnât match your personal aspirations, you just donât have to answer. A new user may recognise that his post was bad formulated if he gets no answers.
Finally, its also nothing against you personally. As said, I understand your points, but think, in general, with such mindsets we may not come that far in an already complicated and in many ways separated world.
So, no offence! I close the question since all this is way off topicâŚ
Yes you hit the nail on its head. But instead of that what usually happens is there are 100+ posts long threads with every possible answer going back and forth. When in the future someone tries to search something and gets to one of these threads they are just useless clutter on the internet.
So, I guess as a countermeasure (and because I canât get out of my skin), I just have to comment on some of those.