Java (OpenJDK)
The Java runtime that programs ask you to install. Free builds for Linux from Eclipse Temurin and your app store.
Our verdict
Java on Linux is a solved problem. The open source version, OpenJDK, is in the app store on Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora and the rest, and Eclipse Temurin publishes ready-made installer files if you would rather get it from the source that builds it.
A Java program is a .jar file, and the same .jar you ran on Windows will normally run on Linux without changes. That is the whole point of Java, and it mostly holds up.
The one thing that catches people is versions. Some programs want Java 8, others want 17 or 21, and the error message when you have the wrong one is not friendly. If a program refuses to start, check what version its own site asks for. Old Java applets that ran inside Internet Explorer are gone everywhere, Windows included, and nothing on Linux brings them back.
What's good
- Free and open source, with no Oracle licence to read
- Sitting in the app store on every mainstream Linux system
- Eclipse Temurin publishes installer files for Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora and SUSE systems
- Java programs written for Windows usually run unchanged
What to know first
- Several versions exist and a given program may want a specific one
- Nothing tells you which version you need until a program complains
- Browser plug-in Java is long gone, so old web-based Java tools will not work
- The name covers a runtime and a development kit, which confuses people
The details
- Cost
- Free
- Open source
- Yes (GPL-2.0 with Classpath Exception)
- How you install it
- .deb installer, .rpm installer, Built-in app store
Windows apps it can replace
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