Exploring the JDS Linux Desktop

Chapter 5. Maintaining and Supporting JDS

You have now become familiar with many important features of the Java Desktop System. Your next step is to explore JDS maintenance and support. In this chapter, you will learn how to:

• Update your operating system software using the the Sun Java Update Service

• Add or Remove software using either Sun’s Desktop Configurator or the Linux text-based package management system

• Back up your important files and folders

While JDS is quite powerful out of the box, you may run into the need for software that is not loaded by default. You should know how to upgrade software when security fixes are announced or when new software features and improvements are available.

A Word About Packages

Linux software usually comes in something called a package. If you needed a software program, you would normally find it on a download site on the Internet. You would download the software, install it, and find it afterward in your menu. When you click on the icon in the menu, it would starts the program.

Inside a JDS package, a programmer places a spec file, which tells the operating system how to install the software, what shared libraries it needs, where the program should go on the menu, and other information vital to installing the software.

So when you see the term package, just remember it contains software, which you want to install, and information on how to install it.

Using Online Update

Constant improvement is a basic feature of the computer field. Sun Microsystems ...