MC-4949Minecraft isn't packaged for Debian/Ubuntu which leads to customer dissatisfaction
It doesn't take a lot of work to package minecraft for Debian/Ubuntu and since there is none that Mojang provides people get confused on how to properly install minecraft - all Linux user's aren't hackers these days. So most people try to follow different tutorials stating different things (sun-java, openjdk, etc.) which gives them an unpleasant experience working with terminals and such they aren't used to. They need to set appropriate permissions, create a launcher, often also create a shell script which prepares the environment so that the user doesn't get the black-screen bug. And this leads to customer dissatisfaction since you promise Linux support but leave it up to the end user to get it working.
This is an issue that needs to get fixed and should probably be set as a priority.
Environment
Ubuntu 12.10 x64
Created Issue:
Minecraft isn't packaged for Debian/Ubuntu which leads to customer dissatisfaction
It doesn't take a lot of work to package minecraft for Debian/Ubuntu and since there is none that Mojang provides people get confused on how to properly install minecraft - all Linux user's aren't hackers these days. So most people try to follow different tutorials stating different things (sun-java, openjdk, etc.) which gives them an unpleasant experience working with terminals and such they aren't used to. They need to set appropriate permissions, create a launcher, often also create a shell script which prepares the environment so that the user doesn't get the black-screen bug. And this leads to customer dissatisfaction since you promise Linux support but leave it up to the end user to get it working.
This is an issue that needs to get fixed and should probably be set as a priority.
Environment
Ubuntu 12.10 x64
![[Mod] CubeTheThird](../../../data/assets/gravatar/cubethethird.jpeg){kind=small}
![[Mod] Ezekiel (ezfe)](../../../data/assets/gravatar/ezekielelin.jpeg){kind=small}
Please do not mark unreleased versions as affected. You do not have access to this yet.
This is not a bug, but a feature request, and should be posted on the MC forums here. Two things you should consider: regardless of packaging, it is still up to the user to install java themselves. To satisfy every linux user, Mojang would have to package for every different packaging system.
With your reasoning you're saying that it would also be ok to not create an installer for Windows since not all users would be able to benefit from that (eg. OS X). The goal should be to cater to as many users as possible, wouldn't you say? Also, as long as there are a package it's much easier for the community to repackage the deb to rpm or any other packaging system you'd like.
That's not what I'm saying at all. The only users I have ever seen have trouble installing minecraft are linux users. This is mainly for 2 reasons: they are using openJDK6 or they don't know to update their LWJGL files. Windows and Mac users don't have these problems, and thus would hardly benefit from a fancy installer, when the current system in place works fine. I agree that yes it would be nice if it was packaged, but for the average linux user this is not necessary, as it would do 3 things: download minecraft, update the LWJGL files, create a script to run it. I am not saying that minecraft shouldn't be packaged, but simply that this is not the place to request it.
I would like to start off saying Debian/Ubuntu is not the only distribution of linux. When someone is using an operating system such as linux you are usually assumed to have some technical troubleshooting skills. The problem is easily diagnosed and quickly fixed by a quick check on Google. I think the best way to resolve this is to include beside the Linux download link a note about needing to update LWJGL and possibly a URL to the latest stable build.
@JamesWitheld you are very wrong to assume that. Ubuntu alone was preinstalled this year on as many new PCs this year as Apple sold Macs in 2007. You can no longer treat it as just a developer platform.
Since java is preinstalled on most of the distributions I'd say that one of the most annoying issues for non tech savvy users is that there is no .desktop-file which lets the application to be treated as a regular application in the shell. The user can't find minecraft under "games" in the menu.
I'm running ubuntu with ARM processor and Oracle doesn't compile their closed-source binaries for anything but x64 and x86. Why can't this work with OpenJDK7? [Edit:] I have updated LWJGL files, in case you are wondering. Still the black screen, and I can't fix it with open source JRE.
@Bella:
If a java app runs correctly in one JRE, it should run without changes in all valid JRE's, Oracles or not. Your problem sounds more like an issue with OpenJDK or LWJGL (and would then need to be fixed by them). (Though it still may have Mojang failure there, e.g. with launcher.)
In any case, your problem is not necessarily a problem with packaking, so another issue than this one youre commenting in. Perhaps start working your problem on IRC or forums, where some volunteers might try to help finding out where the problem really is, so that you can make the issue report to correct place.
Yes, I have been working on forums and with the help of my friend Google before posting this, but it's just frustrating that I have to become an expert in compiling Java and its associated gaming libraries just to run Minecraft. I see your point, and if I ever get anywhere with this, I will attempt to report it appropriately, but I still agree with the OP that packaging would make it a heck of a lot easier and probably sell even more Minecraft accounts. I'm really only working this hard on it because we already paid for a 3rd Minecraft account after seeing the claim that it would run on Linux (our 3rd computer), and found out about the lack of ARM support after the fact. I did get Oracle JDK 8 for ARM installed, but it now seems lwjgl has to be compiled for ARM too and I'm out of ideas there.
Are you by chance using a Raspberry PI? If so, you may want to look into Minecraft PI Edition. Also note that you can use your minecraft account on as many different machines as you want (though not necessarily at the same time).
Thanks, CubeTheThird. Unfortunately, I don't have any other computers to run Minecraft simultaneously--there are 3 of us here who want to use it, usually at the same time, and 3 computers (Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu on tablet).
So I am not using a Raspberry Pi, although my research on this issue has turned up many references to it and I have to admit I'm quite intrigued! Actually, I'm using an Asus TF700 with keyboard dock and USB mouse, with native Ubuntu installed thusly. Is it likely this Minecraft Pi edition will run on other ARM processors without intervention? I gather that as it stands now OpenGLES changes to LWJGL files are required on my version of Ubuntu, but Ubuntu Touch has recently been announced and I wonder if I should just wait for that.
I honestly have no idea if Minecraft PI will work for it, though considering both use ARM processors it certainly is possible. I have not tried it myself as I have no devices on which to test it.