I’m using a system that has various java versions installed and uses the “alternatives” command to switch between them. I know that I can change the Java version using this command:
alternatives --config java
Where ‘java‘ is the name for that list of alternatives. I’m interested in finding the list of names for all alternatives currently installed. For example, I know that ‘alternatives’ also manages a link to the jdk directory, but I can’t figure out the name to give to –config so that I can choose an alternative.
How do I get a list of names of alternatives on a linux system?
I just discovered that:
“Metadata about the alternatives system can be found in the administrative directory, which defaults to
/var/lib/alternatives.”I found that information at this URL:
http://www.quora.com/Alternatives-Linux-command/How-does-the-alternatives-system-work
Each file in that directory represents a ‘name‘ for an alternative. It turns out that alternatives can manage more than just the link to a single binary. It can manage related paths too!