Robert Eckstein's Video Blogs: When a Thousand Words Is Way Under Budget

Think that the $299 Asus EEE PC ultraportable can't run Java or NetBeans? You might be surprised. Here are step by step instructions for kick-starting Java development on what could be one of the most inexpensive laptops ever.

(Note: the 2G EEE models may have their RAM chips soldered onto the main board. Be sure to check the online product documentation before removing the bottom panel and possibly voiding your warranty.)

As mentioned in the video, here are the instructions for the actual installation.

Step 1: Download the Latest JDK

Using Firefox on the EEE, go to the Java Download Page.

Download the latest JDK for Linux self-extracting (32-bit) file into My Documents. Once this file has downloaded, open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and cd to the My Documents directory you saved the binary in.

Once in that directory, make the binary executable.

  chmod +x jdk-(…version…)-linux-i586.bin

Then, execute the file:

  ./jdk-(…version…)-linux-i586.bin

Press the space bar to scroll down through the license agreement. Enter yes to continue. Then, move the JDK directory (here we're assuming 1.6.0_05) to the /usr directory and create a symbolic link. You can use this approach later if you want to install a newer version of Java.

  sudo mv jdk1.6.0_05  /usr/
  sudo ln –s /usr/jdk1.6.0_05 /usr/java

Next, update your bash profile to include the path to the Java directory.

  cd ~
  nano .bash_profile

Add the following to the end of the file:

  # set PATH so it includes java
  if [ -d /usr/java/bin ] ; then
      PATH=/usr/java/bin:”${PATH}”
  fi

Exit the editor, restart the machine, and reopen another Terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T). Then type:

  which java

The response should be:

  /usr/java/bin/java

Step 2: Download NetBeans 6.0 for Linux

Go to the NetBeans Home Page and download the smallest version of NetBeans for Linux. Again, save it to “My Documents.” Then, like before, cd to "My Documents" and change the permissions to make it executable, and run it.

  chmod +x netbeans-6.0-javase-linux.sh
  ./netbeans-6.0-javase-linux

Go through the installation process as usual, and install NetBeans in /home/user/netbeans-6.0.

Finally, delete the installation file that you downloaded.

Step 3: Add Support for NetBeans in the Easy Menu System

Download the graphics files here.

Next, unzip the file and go into the AsusEEENetBeansIcons directory, and move the contents to the Asus Launcher resource directory.

  cd AsysEEENetBeansIcons
  sudo mv *.png /opt/xandros/share/AsusLauncher/

Finally, edit the simpleui.rc file in that directory to reference the NetBeans executable.

  sudo nano /opt/xandros/share/AsusLauncher/simpleui.rc

You can do this by placing the following text at the end, but inside the closing simpleui XML element. So, for example, the end of your file should look like this:

<parcel simplecat="Work" extraargs="/home/user/netbeans-6.0/bin/netbeans" 
	icon="netbeans_norm.png"
	selected_icon="netbeans_hi.png">

	<name lang="en">NetBeans 6.0</name>
	<name lang="zh_TW">NetBeans 6.0</name>
	<name lang="zh_CN">NetBeans 6.0</name>

	<name lang="es_AR">NetBeans 6.0</name>
	<name lang="de_DE">NetBeans 6.0</name>
	<name lang="es_ES">NetBeans 6.0</name>

	<name lang="fr_FR">NetBeans 6.0</name>
	<name lang="it_IT">NetBeans 6.0</name>
	<name lang="nl_NL">NetBeans 6.0</name>

	<name lang="pt_PT">NetBeans 6.0</name>
	<name lang="ru_RU">NetBeans 6.0</name>
	<name lang="th_TH">NetBeans 6.0</name>

	<name lang="tr_TR">NetBeans 6.0</name>
	<desc lang="en">NetBeans 6.0 IDE</desc>
</parcel>

</simpleui>

Save the file and restart the system.

Step 4: Adding Subversion

First, it helps to enable full desktop mode. Follow the instructions at this page

Next, look further down the same document at the instructions for using the Synaptic Package Manager. After you get familiar with it, add the following package repository:

deb http://xnv4.xandros.com/xs2.0/upkg-srv2/  etch   main contrib non-free

After that, hit the Reload button, and look under the main “Development” group for the subversion package 1.4.2 or greater. Mark it for installation, and install it. Don't worry if the system complains that the package is not verified. After it is finished, restart NetBeans and verify that you can use subversion with the Versioning->Subversion menu.

(Note that this is an official Xandros repository, unlike the ones I used when I was creating the video blog.)