DAMTP News: Search maple

SUMMARY: An updated Oracle Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is a bug and critical security update. To get the benefit of the security fixes you should restart all browsers, LibreOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Oracle Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_38) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_37) which may be removed after a few weeks. The new version fixes various bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the improvements please read:

Don't be surprised that the links above are to Oracle rather than Sun - Sun were bought by Oracle in 2010 - though Java still lists Sun as the Vendor.

Those wanting to use the latest Oracle JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_38
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_38
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_38
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_38
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@maths.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox java plugin, LibreOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at the centrally installed Oracle Java Runtime in one of /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre places. Hence they should automatically pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_38

or you can point the browser at:

which should display the Java version detected as "Java SE 6 Update 38" or "Version 6 Update 38".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@maths.cam.ac.uk for advice.

The older Java 1.6.0_30 (jre and jdk) has now been removed, other old java versions will be removed in a few weeks unless problems are found in the new version and reported to us - email help@maths.cam.ac.uk if you discover a problem.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to help@maths.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: A request to anyone using the department linux system to restart Thunderbird and Firefox on Wednesday morning (5 September).

Also if you have any of the following running since last Friday please restart them - LibreOffice, Matlab or Maple.

DETAILS: Some security updates have been applied. To benefit from them the applications need to be restarted.

Ideally Thunderbird would be closed down tonight Tuesday 4 September and reopened on Wednesday morning. Unfortunately by the time I tested and got this message out most people will have already read Tuesday's message of the day and not see this message until tomorrow morning (Wednesday).

SUMMARY: An updated Oracle Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is a bug and critical security update. To get the benefit of the security fixes you should restart all browsers, LibreOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Oracle Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_38) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_31) which may be removed after a few weeks. The new version fixes various bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the improvements please read:

Don't be surprised that the links above are to Oracle rather than Sun - Sun were bought by Oracle in 2010 - though Java still lists Sun as the Vendor.

Those wanting to use the latest Oracle JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_33
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_33
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_33
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_33
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@maths.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox java plugin, LibreOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at the centrally installed Oracle Java Runtime in one of /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre places. Hence they should automatically pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_33

or you can point the browser at:

which should display the Java version detected as "Java SE 6 Update 33" or "Version 6 Update 33".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@maths.cam.ac.uk for advice.

The older Java 1.6.0_30 (jre and jdk) has now been removed, other old java versions will be removed in a few weeks unless problems are found in the new version and reported to us - email help@maths.cam.ac.uk if you discover a problem.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: An updated Oracle (was once Sun) Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is a bug and security fix update. To get the benefit of the security fixes you should restart all browsers, LibreOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Oracle/Sun Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_31) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_30) which may be removed after a few weeks. The new version fixes various bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the improvements please read:

Don't be surprised that the links above are to Oracle rather than Sun - Sun were bought by Oracle in 2010 - though Java still mentions Sun as the Vendor.

Those wanting to use the latest Oracle (Sun) JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_31
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_31
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_31
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_31
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@maths.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox java plugin, LibreOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at the centrally installed Sun Java Runtime in one of /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre places. Hence they should automatically pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_31

or you can point the browser at:

which should display the Java version detected as "Java SE 6 Update 31" or "Version 6 Update 31".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@maths.cam.ac.uk for advice.

The older Java 1.6.0_29 (jre and jdk) has now been removed, other old java versions will be removed in a few weeks unless problems are found in the new version and reported to us - email help@maths.cam.ac.uk if you discover a problem.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: An updated Oracle (was once Sun) Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is just a bug-fix update. To get the bug fixes you should restart all browsers, LibreOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Oracle/Sun Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_30) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_29) which may be removed after a few weeks. The new version fixes various bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the improvements please read:

Don't be surprised that the links above are to Oracle rather than Sun - Sun were bought by Oracle in 2010 - though Java still mentions Sun as the Vendor.

Those wanting to use the latest Oracle (Sun) JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_30
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_30
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_30
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_30
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@maths.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox java plugin, LibreOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at the centrally installed Sun Java Runtime in one of /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre places. Hence they should automatically pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_30

or you can point the browser at:

which should display the Java version detected as "Java SE 6 Update 30" or "Version 6 Update 30".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@maths.cam.ac.uk for advice.

The older Java 1.6.0_27 (jre and jdk) has now been removed, other old java versions will be removed in a few weeks unless problems are found in the new version and reported to us - email help@maths.cam.ac.uk if you discover a problem.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: An updated Oracle (was once Sun) Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is a security update and to have a useful effect and to get the bug fixes you should restart all browsers, LibreOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Oracle/Sun Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_29) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_27) which may be removed after a few weeks. The new version fixes various security problems and other bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the improvements please read:

Don't be surprised that the links above are to Oracle rather than Sun - Sun were bought by Oracle in 2010 - though Java still mentions Sun as the Vendor.

Those wanting to use the latest Oracle (Sun) JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_29
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_29
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_29
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_29
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@maths.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox java plugin, LibreOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at the centrally installed Sun Java Runtime in one of /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre places. Hence they should automatically pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_29

or you can point the browser at:

which should display the Java version detected as "Java SE 6 Update 29" or "Version 6 Update 29".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@maths.cam.ac.uk for advice.

Older java versions will be removed in a few weeks unless problems are found in the new version and reported to us - email help@maths.cam.ac.uk if you discover a problem.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: Maple 15 is now the default version on Linux

Last month we installed Maple 14 for testing (see news item 1617), and since no-one has reported any problems with it it is now being made the default version on the Linux machines.

Running maple from a terminal with maple or xmaple will now launch Maple-15.

Those of you who need older versions can still run maple-14 (or xmaple-14) from the command line - for a while at least.

The gnome menus will be updated overnight to offer both Maple-15 and Maple-14, the later for those who still need to run the older version.

We currently have Maple versions 13, 14, 15 available but eventually the older versions will be removed, so please let us know of problems converting your code to work with version 15.

Any complaints to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk as usual.

SUMMARY: Maple versions earlier than v13 have now been removed.

As mentioned in news item 1608 the licences for Maple v12 (and earlier) expired on 31st August. Attempting to launch the old versions (e.g. maple-12) just cause an unfriendly error message, so they have been removed.

SUMMARY: An updated Oracle (was once Sun) Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is only a bugfix update though to have a useful effect and to get the bug fixes you should restart all browsers, OpenOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Oracle/Sun Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_27) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_26) which may be removed after a few weeks. The new version fixes some bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the improvements please read:

Don't be surprised that the links above are to Oracle rather than Sun - Sun were bought by Oracle in 2010.

Those wanting to use the latest Oracle (Sun) JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_27
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_27
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_27
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_27
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@maths.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox (and Seamonkey) java plugins, OpenOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at this centrally installed Sun Java Runtime in /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre names. Hence they ought to pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_27

or you can point the browser at:

which will display as "Version 6 Update 27" or "Java SE 6 Update 27".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@maths.cam.ac.uk for advice.

Older java versions will be removed in a few weeks unless problems are found in the new version and reported to us - email help@maths.cam.ac.uk if you discover a problem.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: We now have Maple-15 installed for people to test.

Maple version 15 (actually 15.01) is now available on Linux using the commands maple-15 for the command line interface, and xmaple-15 for the graphical interface. Currently the version launched from the Gnome menus is still Maple-14.

As with Maple-14 we have both the the x86_64 64-bit and the the i386 32-bit versions available.

If you use Maple please try your existing code/worksheets with the new version, as we plan to make it the default in about 10 days unless there are reports of new problems.

Maple-15 may be installed on the MacOSX machines that we maintain in the next few days - if there is any demand. Please let us know if you are willing to test the MacOSX version.

Please let us know if you spot any problems by mail to help@maths.cam.ac.uk and send any complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: The licences for Maple have been updated.

Our licences for Maple (v13/v14) were due to expire at the end of August. New ones which won't expire until next year (2012-07-31) have been obtained and installed.

Note that there is no new licence available for Maple v12 so it will expire on 31st August (2011-08-31) and there is little we can do about it. Users of Maple v12 should seriously consider switching to a newer version. To find the version of Maple you can run:

interface(version);

Or when running the GUI version use Help -> About Maple (which will also display the licence expiry date).

Those who have maple on their own machines under our departmental licence should contact help@maths.cam.ac.uk to obtain the code to renew their licence.

We expect to obtain the media for Maple v15 in the next few days, and once we do we will be able to install it for use on the DAMTP Linux and MacOSX machines that we administer and the relevant images will be added to the ones already available under http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/internal/computing/software/maple/

SUMMARY: An updated Oracle (was once Sun) Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is a security update and to have a useful effect and to get any bug fixes you should restart all browsers, OpenOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java. Oracle regard this as a critical update.

An updated Oracle/Sun Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_26) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_25) which may be removed after a few weeks. The new version fixes various security problems as well as some bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the improvements please read:

Don't be surprised that the links above are to Oracle rather than Sun - Sun were bought by Oracle in 2010.

Those wanting to use the latest Oracle (Sun) JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_26
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_26
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_26
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_26
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@maths.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox (and Seamonkey) java plugins, OpenOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at this centrally installed Sun Java Runtime in /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre names. Hence they ought to pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_26

or you can point the browser at:

which will display as "Version 6 Update 26" or "Java SE 6 Update 26".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@maths.cam.ac.uk for advice.

The older java 1.6.0_24 versions have now been removed - somewhat later than suggested in news item 1579, but we got there eventually.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: An updated Oracle (was once Sun) Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is only a bugfix update though to have a useful effect and to get the bug fixes you should restart all browsers, OpenOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Oracle/Sun Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_25) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_24) which may be removed after a few weeks. The new version fixes some bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the improvements please read:

Don't be surprised that the links above are to Oracle rather than Sun - Sun were bought by Oracle in 2010.

Those wanting to use the latest Oracle (Sun) JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_25
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_25
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_25
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_25
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@maths.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox (and Seamonkey) java plugins, OpenOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at this centrally installed Sun Java Runtime in /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre names. Hence they ought to pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_25

or you can point the browser at:

which will display as "Version 6 Update 25" or "Java SE 6 Update 25".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@maths.cam.ac.uk for advice.

The older java 1.6.0_23 versions have now been removed - somewhat later than suggested in news item 1542, but we got there eventually.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: Maple 14 is now the default version on Linux

In February we installed Maple 14 for testing (see news item 1540), and since no-one has reported any problems with it it is now being made the default version on the Linux machines.

Running maple from a terminal with maple or xmaple (or from the Gnome menus) will now launch Maple-14. The icon used in the gnome menus will be updated overnight to use the v14 image (which has the number 14 in front of a red leaf, rather than the older yellow leaf).

Those of you who need older versions can still run maple-13 (or xmaple-13) from the command line - for a while at least.

Eventually the older versions of Maple will be removed, so please let us know of problems converting your code to version 14.

Even older version of Maple (v10 and v12) will be removed in the next two weeks unless we are told of (good) reasons to keep the older versions for a while longer.

Any complaints to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk as usual.

SUMMARY: An updated Oracle (was once Sun) Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is a security update and to have a useful effect and to get the bug fixes you should restart all browsers, OpenOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Oracle/Sun Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_24) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_23) which may be removed in few weeks. The new version also fixes some bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the fixes please read:

Don't be surprised that the links above are to Oracle rather than Sun - Sun were bought by Oracle in 2010.

Those wanting to use the latest Oracle (Sun) JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_24
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_24
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_24
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_24
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@maths.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox (and Seamonkey) java plugins, OpenOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at this centrally installed Sun Java Runtime in /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre names. Hence they ought to pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_24

or you can point the browser at:

which will display the version as "Version 6 Update 24" or "Java 6 Update 24".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@maths.cam.ac.uk for advice.

The older java 1.6.0_22 versions have now been removed - somewhat later than suggested in news item 1531, but we got there eventually.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: We now have Maple 14 installed for people to test.

Maple version 14 (actually 14.01) is now available on Linux using the commands maple-14 for the command line interface, and xmaple-14 for the graphical interface.

As with Maple-13 we have both the the x86_64 64-bit and the the i386 32-bit versions available.

If you use Maple please try your existing code/worksheets with the new version, as we plan to make it the default in about 2 weeks unless there are reports of new problems.

Maple 14 may be installed on the MacOSX machines that we maintain in the next few days - if there is any demand. Please let us know if you are willing to test the MacOSX version.

SUMMARY: An updated Oracle (was Sun) Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is a security update and to have a useful effect and to get the bug fixes you should restart all browsers, OpenOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Sun Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_23) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_22) which will be removed in few weeks. The new version also fixes some bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the fixes please read:

Don't be surprised that the links above are to Oracle rather than Sun - Sun were bought by Oracle several months ago.

Those wanting to use the latest Oracle (Sun) JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_23
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_23
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_23
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_23
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@damtp.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox (and Seamonkey) java plugins, OpenOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at this centrally installed Sun Java Runtime in /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre names. Hence they should pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_23-b05

or you can point the browser at:

which will display the version as "Version 6 Update 23" or "Java 6 Update 23".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@damtp.cam.ac.uk for advice.

The older java 1.6.0_20 versions have now been removed - somewhat later than suggested in news item 1500, but we got there eventually.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: An updated Sun Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is a security update and to have a useful effect and to get the bug fixes you should restart all browsers, OpenOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Sun Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_22) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_20) which will be removed in a couple of weeks. The new version also fixes some bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the fixes please read:

[ Don't be surprised that the links above say Oracle rather than Sun at the top of every page - Sun were bought by Oracle several months ago. ]

Those wanting to use the latest Sun JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_22
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_22
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_22
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_22
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@damtp.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox (and Seamonkey) java plugins, OpenOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at this centrally installed Sun Java Runtime in /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre names. Hence they should pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_22-b04

or you can point the browser at:

which will display the version as "Version 6 Update 22" or "Java 6 Update 22".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@damtp.cam.ac.uk for advice.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: the licinfo script should one again be showing useful information.

We recently moved several of our floating licence servers to a newer machine, but I forgot to update the licinfo script to make it query the newer server.

I've now done this and also removed some of the licence-servers it queries (since we essentially have infinite licences so should never run out).

Currently it will report on the usage of Matlab, IDL, and the newer versions of the Intel compilers. If anyone feels the need to query the information about Maple, Mathematica or NAg licences please let me know.

Many apologies for not noticing this oversight earlier, complaints to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk as usual.

SUMMARY: The licence servers for a number of commercial applications were accidentally shut down just before 1am. They were all restarted again before 2.30am.

The FLEXlm licence servers for matlab, maple, idl, nag and intel (compilers) were all accidentally shut down at about 00:52 this morning, which would have prevented licences from being obtained.

This would have caused the relevant commands to fail when launched and may have caused problems for running instances; some of which check back with the server at various times.

The licence servers were restarted at about 01:39 but killed a few minutes later and finally restarted just after 02:23. The logs show that they are all still running properly. Apologies to anyone who was inconvenienced by this.

The problem was caused by a flaw common to all the lmgrd startup scripts (that I wrote) which could kill the wrong lmgrd iff the lmgrd binary had been renamed/removed. The relevant scripts have now been altered to be far more careful and hopefully this will not happen again.

Complaints to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk as usual.

SUMMARY: The licences for Maple have been updated.

Our licences for Maple (v12 and v13) were due to expire at the end of the month. New ones which won't expire until next year have been obtained and installed.

Those who have maple on their own machines under our departmental licence should contact help@damtp.cam.ac.uk to obtain the code to renew their licence.

We expect to obtain the media for Maple-14 in the next few days, and once we do we will install it for use on the DAMTP Linux and MacOSX machines that we administer and the relevant images will be added to the ones already available under http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/internal/computing/software/maple/

SUMMARY: some older versions of applications have been removed.

Over the weekend and today we have been removing some older versions of various applications (mostly commercial) to avoid them taking up so much space. If you were still using any of the versions we have removed please let us know by sending a message to help@damtp.cam.ac.uk

The more significant applications removed were:

Maple 8, 9, 9.5 - leaving 10, 11, 12, 13
Mathematica 4, 5.0, 6.0.1 - leaving 6.0.2.1, 7.0.1
Matlab 4.2, 5.0, 6.0, 6.1, 6.5 - leaving 7.1, r14.3, r2006b, r2007a, r2007b, r2008b (and soon r2010a)
IDL 5.0, 5.3, 5.4, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 - leaving 7.0, 7.1
Sun Java 1.6.0_19 - leaving 1.6.0_20
Acroread 9.3.1 - leaving 9.3.2

In addition we removed the old gcc 3.4.3 and gcc 4.0.0 compilers as well as all the SGI Irix binaries (the last Irix machine here was finally turned off last week) and some other old apps which hadn't been on any default paths for very many months (e.g the remaining parts of our tex3 builds from 1992/1993 and the old HP-UX, and SunOS4 binaries for reduce-3.5 etc).

Please send complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: An updated Sun Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is a security update and to have a useful effect and to get the bug fixes you should restart all browsers, OpenOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Sun Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_20) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_19) which will be removed in a couple of weeks. The new version also fixes some bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the fixes please read:

[ Don't be surprised that the links above say Oracle rather than Sun at the top of every page - Sun were bought by Oracle some time ago. ]

Those wanting to use the latest Sun JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_20
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_20
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_20
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_20
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@damtp.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox (and Seamonkey) java plugins, OpenOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at this centrally installed Sun Java Runtime in /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre or the older /opt/sunjava/jre names. Hence they should pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_20-b02

or you can point the browser at:

which will display the version as "Version 6 Update 20" or "Java 6 Update 20".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@damtp.cam.ac.uk for advice.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: An updated Sun Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is a security update and to have a useful effect and to get the bug fixes you should restart all browsers, OpenOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Sun Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_19) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_18) which will be removed in a couple of weeks. The new version also fixes some bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the fixes please read:

[ Don't be surprised that the links above say Oracle rather than Sun at the top of every page - Sun were bought by Oracle some time ago. ]

Those wanting to use the latest Sun JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_19
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_19
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_19
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_19
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@damtp.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox (and Seamonkey) java plugins, OpenOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at this centrally installed Sun Java Runtime in /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre or the older /opt/sunjava/jre names. Hence they should pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_19-b04

or you can point the browser at:

which will display the version as "Version 6 Update 19" or "Java 6 Update 19".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@damtp.cam.ac.uk for advice.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: Maple 13 is now the default version.

Back in August last year we installed Maple-13 and announced that it would be made the default version in a couple of weeks (seen news item 1347). Sadly this never happened, and it was only after someone asked about a bug in Maple-12 that we noticed that it was still the default version.

In any case launching maple from a terminal with maple or xmaple (or from the Gnome menus) will now launch Maple-13. Those of you who need older versions can still run maple-12 (or xmaple-12) for a while at least.

Eventually the older versions of Maple will be removed, so please let us know of problems converting your code to version 13.

SUMMARY: An updated Sun Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is a security update and to have a useful effect and to get the bug fixes you should restart all browsers, OpenOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Sun Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_18) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_17) which will be removed in a couple of weeks. The new version fixes some bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the fixes please read:

[ Don't be surprised that the links above now say Oracle at the top of every page - Sun have now been bought by Oracle. ]

Those wanting to use the latest Sun JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_18
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_18
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_18
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_18
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@damtp.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox (and Seamonkey) java plugins, OpenOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at this centrally installed Sun Java Runtime in /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre or the older /opt/sunjava/jre names. Hence they should pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_18-b07

or you can point the browser at:

which will display the version as "Version 6 Update 18" or "Java 6 Update 18".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@damtp.cam.ac.uk for advice.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: An updated Sun Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is from web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest java version.

NOTE: this is a security update and to have a useful effect and to get the bug fixes you should restart all browsers, OpenOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Sun Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_17) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_15) which will be removed at some point in the future. The new version fixes some bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the fixes please read:

Those wanting to use the latest Sun JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_17
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_17
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_17
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_17
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment. e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

The older java versions 1.6.0_13 1.6.0_14 have now (finally) been removed and 1.6.0_15 will be removed at some point in the next few weeks.

We never bothered to install 1.6.0_16 since it did not contain security fixes.

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@damtp.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox (and Seamonkey) java plugins, OpenOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at this centrally installed Sun Java Runtime in /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre or the older /opt/sunjava/jre names. Hence they should pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_17-b04

or you can point the browser at:

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@damtp.cam.ac.uk for advice.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: Maple 13.01 will be installed on the MacOSX machines for testing.

As mentioned in news item 1347 Maple version 13 (actually 13.01) will be installed on the MacOSX machines overnight. Apologies for the delay in doing this.

If you use Maple on MacOSX please try your existing code/worksheets with the new version and let us know if there are any problems.

SUMMARY: An updated Sun Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is from web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest version.

NOTE: this is a security update and to have a useful effect and to get the bug fixes you should restart all browsers, OpenOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Sun Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_15) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_14) which will be removed at some point in the future. The new version fixes some bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the fixes please read:

Those wanting to use the latest Sun JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_15
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_15
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_15
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_15
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment. e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Older java versions such as 1.6.0_13 1.6.0_14 and will be removed at some point in the next few weeks.

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@damtp.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox (and Seamonkey) java plugins, OpenOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at this centrally installed Sun Java Runtime in /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre or the older /opt/sunjava/jre names. Hence they should pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_15-b03

or you can point the browser at:

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@damtp.cam.ac.uk for advice.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to jp107@damtp.cam.ac.uk

SUMMARY: We have Maple 13 for people to test.

Maple version 13 (actually 13.01) is now available on Linux using the commands maple-13 for the command line interface, and xmaple-13 for the graphical interface.

This is the first version of Maple where we have installed the x86_64 64-bit version as well as the i386 32-bit version.

If you use Maple please try your existing code/worksheets with the new version, as we plan to make it the default in about 2 weeks unless there are reports of problems.

Maple 13 will be installed on the MacOSX machines that we maintain in the next few days - let us know if you are willing to test the MacOSX version.

SUMMARY: Launching Maple (v12) should no longer warn that the licence is about to expire.

Today we were sent the information needed to update our Maple licence to one which is not due to expire on 21st July 2009. The updated licence is now installed (it is due to expire on 31st July 2010), so the annoying warnings about only having a handful of days left should now have gone.

Maple version 12 on linux is now available using the commands maple-12 for the command line interface, and xmaple-12 for the graphical interface.

Maple 12 will become the default version on 30th June unless serious problems are found and reported to us. Maple 12 is already installed on the MacOSX machines that we maintain.

A few days ago we installed the latest update to Matlab for testing on the Linux (sl5) machines. It can be run as:

     matlab-r2008b

It is available for Linux (x86 and x86_64 - sl5 only) -- we also have the MacOSX (intel, OSX 10.5) version but don't yet have any public machines of that kind.

The naming scheme is the same as for the last release (R2007b) in any case this version of Matlab reports itself as - using ver:

     MATLAB Version 7.7 (R2008b)

Assuming that no major problems are found with the new version, it will become the default matlab in a couple of weeks. The old versions probably won't be removed for a very long time.

Please note that this version contains a replacement for the old Extended Symbolic Maths toolbox based on a different internal implementation (Mathworks switch from using the Maple core to the Mupad core) and it now calls itself the Symbolic Maths toolbox - though this is not related to the old Symbolic Maths toolbox (which was very limited).

Also note that Mathworks dropped support for the Apple PPC based hardware - the last version to support that was R2007b so we cannot update the matlab on most of our existing MacOSX machines.

Anyone using (or planning to use) the Matlab compiler should contact us for details of the MCR (Matlab Compiler Runtime) path changes.

Those who wish to install the new version on their own machines for use against our licence-server should contact help@damtp.cam.ac.uk to arrange to borrow the install DVDs (and get the relevant licence info). The handful of people who have their own licences for laptops etc should also contact us.

SUMMARY: now you can find out who is hogging the Matlab or Mathematica (etc) licences.

Users have always been able to use the lmstat/monitorlm programs to query the state of the various licence servers (lmstat for flexlm, monitorlm for the mathlm server). However the output is a bit verbose and tedious. Now you can use the licinfo script which runs these and presents the information in a simple form.

See the man page for a little extra info, but basically the usage is:

     licinfo         -- show all the licences (total and in-use)
     licinfo  type   -- show just those matching 'type'

In addition adding -users will show who is using the licences. By default it shows just the totals and any licences the current user has.

e.g.

     $ licinfo       
     Lic Type     Component                    Total In Use
     Maple        Maple10                       5000     2
     Maple        Maple10Excel                  5000     0
     Maple        Maple10WithExcel              5000     2
     <snip the very long list>

or just to see Matlab (and Toolbox) licences:

     $ licinfo matlab
     Lic Type     Component                    Total In Use
     Matlab       MATLAB                          18     8
     Matlab       PDE_Toolbox                      6     0
     Matlab       Extend_Symbolic_Toolbox          2     0
     Matlab       Symbolic_Toolbox                 2     0
     Matlab       Image_Toolbox                    1     1
     Matlab       Optimization_Toolbox             1     0
     Matlab       Signal_Toolbox                   1     0
     Matlab       Statistics_Toolbox               1     0

Please send reports of problems etc to help@damtp.cam.ac.uk as usual.

Last year we installed IDL 6.2 intending to make it the default version after brief testing (see news item 857). Similarly when Maple 10 was installed we expected to make it the default fairly quickly (see news item 873).

Having been reminded the change will happen asap. Anyone who still needs the old versions can still use them by using e.g.

     idl_6.1

etc. Note that IDL 6.2 is only supported on Linux (SL3) and MacOSX 10.4. Maple 10 seems to only be installed for Linux (SL3), though some MacOSX machines may also have it installed locally.

Later releases of both will probably only be installed for Linux (and MacOSX iff there is demand).

At some point the really old versions of IDL and Maple will probably be removed.

Maple version 10 is now available using the commands maple10 for the command line interface, and xmaple10 for the graphical interface. Note that Maple 10 licences are now floating so it can be used on any linux computer, not just the five which allow Maple 9.5 to be run (i.e. pad pen pal paw and pea).

Maple 9.5 will continue to be started by the [x]maple commands for a while, but please switch to version 10 as soon as possible as it will eventually be made the default and Maple 9.5 will be removed.

The new SL3 setup provides a new posix thread implementation (called tls), which requires kernel and library support.

Parts of the existing matlab installations don't work with the tls libraries because they were compiled against previous versions of libraries. In particular the "Symbolic Toolbox" contains a version of the Maple-8 kernel which Mathworks can't easily fix themselves.

Attempting to use that component, will result in odd errors like:

     Invalid MEX-file ....
     .../glnx86/libmaple.so: symbol ... libc.so.6 with link time reference.

Older versions of Matlab are also more likely to have other components which fail to work (or work properly) with the newer libraries.

Users can disable tls by setting LD_ASSUME_KERNEL to an appropriate level (I find that 2.4.19 is fine), but to make things slightly easier we have modified the matlab wrapper scripts to allow a new command-line option "-notls".

The scripts for Matlab versions 6.0, 6.1, 6.5 and 7.0.1 have been modified, so you can start up matlab as (for example):

     matlab701 -nojvm -nosplash -notls
     matlab65  -nojvm -nosplash -notls
     matlab    -nojvm -nosplash -notls

The -notls option will have no effect (other than printing a warning) on RH8 machines (which don't have tls). See the mathworks technical support/solutions page at http://www.mathworks.com/support/solutions/data/1-1BDU5.html more info.

Maple 9.5 will become the default maple on 22 March 2005. The current version of maple will stay on the system for a short while, the command to access it will be xmaple8 (or maple8 if you use the text interface).

Maple 9.5 is installed. The command to use it is

        xmaple95

or maple95 for the text only version.

Please try this version of maple and in due course we will make it the default version and delete the older maple from our system.

We will notify you via the info system before either of these changes happen.

The hosts which maple8 can be run on have changed from:

     kariba hoover narmada nassau nipah

to

     pal paw pea peg pen

which are faster newer machines (and also have much more memory).

As mentioned in info item 538 (25/03/03) we are no longer licenced for the older versions of maple, so they have now (finally) been removed.

Please use maple8 on one of kariba hoover narmada nassau nipah instead.

The older maple6, mapleV4 etc will be removed next week since the licences were transfered to different machines for the maple8 upgrade. Anyone still using the older versions of maple should test their code/workbooks (etc) works with maple8 as soon as possible!

Maple version 8 has been installed for Intel Linux machines. Currently it is licenced on the following 5 machines:

kariba hoover narmada nassau nipah

These are MUCH faster than the old DEC machines etc that maple6 was licenced on.

Note that the old maple6 (and earlier) licences have now expired and you should switch over to using maple8 as soon as possible.

[ The old versions of maple will be removed shortly. ]

The command maple8 (or xmaple8) should be on the standard PATH.

Maple version 6 has been installed and should work on the same set of machines on which MapleV4 is licenced:

decca declaim decant decor decoy spock arnie toco bose

etc. At least until the replacement mapleV4 licence arrives please try maple6.

The command maple6 (or xmaple6) should be on the standard PATH.

The new maple V4 licence has been recieved and installed. Some machines may continue to pick up the old licence for a short time, in which case they will refuse to run (until the licences get synchronised).

Please let me know if there are any other problems.

As some of you may have already noticed, we have 3 new public machines:

electra, mandate which are in the Dungeon

  pilate              which is in S1b

All are Compusys Alpha machines (53Mhz 21164 (EV56) processors with 128M ram), running Linux. For many purposes (e.g. floating point) they will be considerably faster than the Intel based machines, and ought to be slightly faster then the public DEC Alphas (e.g. decor/decoy).

They don't have fortran compilers but code compiled -static on a DEC Alpha system seems to work perfectly well. Most of the standard commercial stuff (Matlab, Maple, IDL, Netscape is NOT available on these machines (at least not yet).

If you have any problems using them please let me know.

Just to save anyone else asking, the MapleV4 licence expired at the start of the Month. We are waiting for a new licence to be provided (an incorrect licence arrived last Friday) and hope to have it soon.

At the moment MapleV3 is still working though we know that not all V4 code will run under V3.

Further information will be placed here as and when we have it.

I'm about to remove the maple/xmaple command which have been synonyms for mapleV3/xmapleV3. From now on you will need to explitly use mapleV3 if you wabnt the old maple or mapleV4 for the new version.

Since there are some differences beterrn these versions I decided it wouldn't be appropriate to just change maple to be mapleV4.

Also the machines licenced to run mapleV4 and V3 have been updated in line with recent changes, the list of machines on which mapleV4 will run is now:

decant declaim decca decor decoy spock arnie toco qcd

(and chasm which is reserved for partIII students use).

All of these except qcd will also continue to be able to run mapleV3 until it is removed. In particular this means that viper/cure can no longer run maple.

The Maple V4 system has been installed for DEC Alpha and Intel Linux machines.

The only machines currently licenced to run it are:

decca declaim decant spock henry arnie toco malice qcd

The command needed to start up maple is "mapleV4" for a tty interface or "xmapleV4" for an X interface. Next week I plan to make this the default maple, and remove mapleV3 shortly afterwards. Please check your existing MapleV3 programs asap to ensure that they work with mapleV4. Cure and viper will stop being able to run mapleV3 when I switch the default over, but the DECs will be able to run mapleV3 'til it is withdrawn.

I've now installed Maple patch 3 on our HP and DEC versions of Maple. This patch is to fix problems with definite integrals. e.g. before the patch the integral:

int(x*(1-x),x=0..1); gives -1/6 rather than 1/6

If you make use of definite integrals and have used Maple then it may be worth re-checking your calculations with the patched version.

The Maple V.3 system has been installed on HP and DEC Alpha. The Maple Computer Algebra System is widely available on other systems and is now available on two of our hp700 machines (Cure and Viper) and all of the DEC Alphas. The command needed to start up maple is "maple" for a tty interface or "xmaple" for a Motif interface.

Please see "man maple" for more details on starting it up.

The old Version of Maple (V2) is still availble on the HPs under the name mapleV2 (and xmapleV2 for the X11 interface.)

Maple will only run on the 2 HP machines mentioned above. If you find that Maple is overworking the machines on which we can run it please report this to us so we can look at upgrading our licence. If you find any problems with Maple or it's installation please report them to me in the first instance.

I'm trying to find out who in DAMTP uses or would like to use Maple. If you don't know what maple is see info item 227 for more details. Please send:

Your name:
What group you work in:
What machine type:

This information will be used to generate statistics on current and projected use of Maple within DAMTP. Individuals data will not be released to any third party but I may contact you individually later to ask other questions.

I've posted a different version of this to a number of ucam newsgroups, this version is only intended to be replied to by members of DAMTP.

The Maple V.2 system has been installed on Adder and Cure. The Maple Computer Algebra System is widely available on other systems and is now available on two of out hp700 machines. The command needed to start up maple is "maple" for a tty interface or "xmaple" for a Motif interface.

Please see "man maple" for more details on starting it up.

Although the software is visible from other HPs please don't use it as our licence is only for the two machines mentioned. If you find any problems with Maple or it's installation please report them to me in the first instance.

DAMTP Computing News

1719) 18/12/12 New Java for Linux

1713) 04/09/12 Restart Thunderbird and web applications [IMPORTANT]

1702) 14/06/12 New Java for Linux

1677) 16/02/12 New Java for Linux

1666) 21/12/11 New Java for Linux

1651) 19/10/11 New Java for Linux

1628) 02/09/11 Maple 15 now the default

1627) 01/09/11 Old Maple gone

1622) 29/08/11 New Java for Linux

1617) 18/08/11 Maple-15 for testing

1608) 18/07/11 Maple licences

1596) 08/06/11 New Java for Linux

1579) 28/04/11 New Java for Linux

1573) 14/04/11 Maple 14 now the default

1542) 21/02/11 New Java for Linux

1540) 15/02/11 Maple 14 for testing

1531) 29/12/10 New Java for Linux

1500) 14/10/10 New Sun Java for Linux

1478) 23/08/10 Fix for licinfo script

1470) 07/08/10 Licence server problems

1467) 27/07/10 Maple licences

1438) 04/05/10 Some old applications removed

1433) 16/04/10 Another New Sun Java for Linux

1432) 05/04/10 Newer Sun Java for Linux

1413) 21/02/10 Maple 13 now the default

1408) 08/02/10 Newer Sun Java for Linux

1382) 27/11/09 Newer Sun Java for Linux

1351) 17/08/09 Maple 13 on MacOSX

1348) 07/08/09 Newer Sun Java for Linux

1347) 05/08/09 Maple 13 now available

1334) 20/07/09 Maple-v12 licence updated

1325) 18/06/09 Maple 12 now available

1254) 29/12/08 New Matlab on Linux [For testing]

1030) 17/04/07 Licence info script

948) 16/09/06 IDL and Maple default versions

873) 06/02/06 Maple 10 now available

789) 03/06/05 Matlab -notls option

750) 16/03/05 Maple 9.5 becoming default maple

745) 17/02/05 Maple 9.5

615) 18/03/04 Maple hosts changed [J.S.Peatfield]

552) 23/05/03 older maples removed [J.S.Peatfield]

538) 25/03/03 older maples to be removed! [J.S.Peatfield]

535) 03/03/03 Maple8 now available [J.S.Peatfield]

464) 01/02/01 Maple6 now available [J.S.Peatfield]

451) 24/01/00 New MapleV4 licence installed [J.S.Peatfield]

434) 27/06/99 New public Linux/Alpha machines [J.S.Peatfield]

422) 27/01/99 MapleV4 not working [J.S.Peatfield]

402) 18/03/98 Maple default and list of hosts updated [J.S.Peatfield]

385) 07/10/97 MapleV4 available on DEC unix and Linux [J.S.Peatfield]

300) 15/03/95 Maple patchlevel 3 installed [J.S.Peatfield]

290) 24/01/95 Maple-V.3 available on HP, DEC Alpha [J.S.Peatfield]

286) 18/01/95 Maple use survey [J.S.Peatfield]

227) 28/03/94 Maple-V.2 available on Adder/Cure [jp107]