FreeMind on Linux

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Starting FreeMind

Installed from RPM or DEB package

Just type "freemind" in a console or an Alt+F2 command line, you're normally done. There should also be a menu entry under "Applications" in KDE and GNOME (under Debian, in any window manager).

Installed from ZIP file

Type the full path of the installation directory in a console or an Alt+F2 command line to start freemind.sh, e.g.:

    $ /some/directory/path/freemind.sh

You will need to create your own menu entry if you need it.

Frequently and less frequently Asked Questions

I can't paste branches copied from FreeMind into other applications

Try to use the middle mouse button to paste the content copied from FreeMind.

Under KDE, you can use klipper and set the option "Synchronize contents of the clipboard and the selection", so that you can also use Ctrl+V or Shift+Ins to paste.

I want to add an icon for my Link to FreeMind on my Desktop, is there one?

Not in the ZIP file, you'll need to download and unpack the source file, there you'll find a file freemind/images/FreeMindWindowIcon.png that you can copy somewhere and use as desktop icone.

When starting FreeMind, it says "`java: command not found`". What's wrong?

It's a problem from Fedora Core, Mandrake and the Java Sun RPM, which neither add the java command to the PATH nore defines properly the variable JAVA_HOME.

Add the following two lines to one of the startup scripts (/etc/profile and/or /etc/bash.bashrc for all users, or $HOME/.profile and/or $HOME/.bashrc only for you):

   export PATH=$PATH:/usr/java/j2re1.4.2_04/bin
   export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/j2re1.4.2_04

(the part in italic depends on your installation)

Note: if you've installed FreeMind from a package, you can alternatively use the solution under #How_can_I_make_FreeMind_use_a_specific_Java_Virtual_Machine.3F.

Why do I get a "No print service found" whenever I attempt to print?

At least up to version 1.4, the java runtime under Linux is using the BSD printing system (also known as the lp commands, or old lp). Most modern distributions offer the CUPS printing system, which needs a compatibility layer to work with Java:

Under SuSE 8.2, the package required is called cups-client
Under Debian, it's called cupsys-bsd.

Install this package and you should be able to print from FreeMind.

If CUPS is not installed on your system, it is easier to install the traditional lpr/lpd system. On Debian, the package is just lpr, apt-get install lpr should be enough.

Note: it looks like Java 1.5 is supporting CUPS directly.

I get an error `java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError` when starting FreeMind

When trying to start FreeMind from a console, you get the following error messages and FreeMind doesn't start:

./lib/freemind.jar 
java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javax/swing/JFrame 
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass0 (ClassLoader.java) 
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass (ClassLoader.java:179) 
at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass (SecureClassLoader.java:33) 
at kaffe.lang.AppClassLoader$JarSource.findClass (AppClassLoader.java:143) 
at kaffe.lang.AppClassLoader.findClass (AppClassLoader.java:291) 
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass (ClassLoader.java:142) 
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass (ClassLoader.java:121) 
at kaffe.jar.ExecJarName.main (ExecJarName.java:55) 
at kaffe.jar.ExecJar.main (ExecJar.java:75)

This is because you use kaffe (the same applies to libgcj, sablevm and a few others), which doesn't offer all features of Sun's Java. Blackdown's Java does as well work, I would have doubts on any other implementation (beside perhaps IBM's one). So, remove this Java version and install a version from Sun or Blackdown.

Note: if you've installed FreeMind from a package, you can alternatively use the solution under #How_can_I_make_FreeMind_use_a_specific_Java_Virtual_Machine.3F.

While installing a FreeMind package, it complains Java isn't installed, though I've installed it and Java programs do work

You've probably installed Java manually, and not from an RPM resp. DEB package. This means that the FreeMind RPM resp. DEB package can't know that Java is installed.

Three solutions (from better to worse):

Install Java from an RPM or DEB package and retry to install the FreeMind package.
Install FreeMind using the ZIP file.
Install the FreeMind package by ignoring the missing dependencies, e.g.:

   # rpm -Uvh -nodeps freemind....noarch.rpm

While installing a FreeMind RPM package, it complains Java isn't installed, though I've installed it from an RPM package

You've probably installed the JDK package from Sun, which provides also a JRE but doesn't say it. Your best chance is to install the dummy package j2sdk-provides-j2re-1.4.2-2.noarch.rpm. The source package is available as well.

How can I make FreeMind use a specific Java Virtual Machine?

If you've installed FreeMind from a package, you can make it use a different Java virtual machines than other programs by adding lines similar to the 2 following ones to /etc/freemind/freemindrc, for all users, or to $HOME/.freemind/freemindrc, for you, so that only FreeMind is impacted (and no other program):

   export PATH=$PATH:/usr/java/j2re1.4.2_04/bin
   export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/j2re1.4.2_04

(the part in italic depends on your installation)

Why doesn't the rebuild of the SRPM work under Fedora Core 2

During rebuild of the RPM, lines similar to the following do appear and the build fails:

compile:
   [mkdir] Created dir: /usr/src/redhat/BUILD/freemind-0.7.1/bin/classes
   [javac] Compiling 92 source files to /usr/src/redhat/BUILD/freemind-0.7.1/bin/classes
   [javac] /usr/src/redhat/BUILD/freemind-0.7.1/freemind/freemind/modes/MindMapLinkRegistry.java:38:
                                                                    error: '{' expected.
   [javac]        };
   [javac]         ^
   [javac] /usr/src/redhat/BUILD/freemind-0.7.1/freemind/freemind/modes/MindMapLinkRegistry.java:40:
                                                                                  error:
Public interface `freemind.modes.ID_Blank' must be defined in a file called `ID_Blank.java'.
   [javac]        public interface ID_Blank extends ID_BasicState {};
   [javac]                         ^

The ant package delivered with Fedora Core 2 seems to be broken (version is 1.5.2, but my ant version is 1.5.1 and it works). Installing ant (and dependencies) from the JPackage Project seems to solve the problem.

Under Fedora Core 3, Java complains in libawt.so about missing libXp.so.6

The exact error message is:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError:
/usr/lib/jre/lib/i386/libawt.so: libXp.so.6:
cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

In this case install the package xorg-x11-deprecated-libs-6.8.1-12.i386.rpm, e.g. using yum, this should solve the problem.

Troubleshooting

Most people seem to think that, because you're relatively knowledgeable, they can tell you that something doesn't work, and you will be able to find out the solution, just like this!

Well, that's not exactly like this: first, I need to understand what the problem exactly is, and then I can try to solve it, especially if I've already seen and solved the problem. Think about your mechanic at the garage, if you give him a call and tell him "my car doesn't start" or "something is wrong with my car", would you expect him to tell you right away "Oh, yes, that's the plugs!". Most probably, he will ask to come by. Well, that's exactly the same here, I can't ask you to come by, but if you want good help, you'll need to give good information.

It's easier than you might thought, just do the following steps, that should give us a good start:

start a console, e.g. use Alt+F2, and type xterm or konsole or rxvt.
in the console, type the following statements:

On an RPM based system:

       DEBUG=1 freemind
       (quit freemind)
       /usr/bin/java -version
       rpm -qa | grep -i j
       rpm -q freemind
       env | grep -i j

On a Debian based system

       DEBUG=1 freemind
       (quit freemind)
       /usr/bin/java -version
       dpkg -l \*j\*
       dpkg -l freemind
       env | grep -i j

Note: You should see which java command is used, e.g. "/usr/bin/java", from the debug output of the freemind command.

The result should look somewhat like this (error messages are OK, I like error messages!):

alice@wonderland:~> DEBUG=1 freemind
DEBUG:   Freemind parameters are .
DEBUG:   Using $PATH to find java virtual machine.
DEBUG:   Using '/usr/bin/java' as java virtual machine...
DEBUG:   Freemind Directory is '/usr/share/freemind'.

Looking for user properties:
/home/ericl/.freemind/user.properties

User properties not found. It will be automatically created.
Done.
Default (System) Look & Feel: javax.swing.plaf.metal.MetalLookAndFeel
[Freemind-Developer-Internal-Warning (do not write a bug report, please)]:
                   Tried to get view without being able to get map module.

alice@wonderland:~> /usr/bin/java -version
java version "1.4.2-rc1"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build Blackdown-1.4.2-rc1)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build Blackdown-1.4.2-rc1, mixed mode)
alice@wonderland:~> rpm -qa | grep -i j
eject-2.0.13-26
joystick-2002.10.30-38
libjpeg-6.2.0-530
joe-2.9.8-179
jfsutils-1.1.1-25
jpilot-devel-0.99.6-0.pm.1
jpeg-6b-530
jhead-2.0-2
taskjuggler-1.4.2-10
j2sdk-provides-j2re-1.4.2-2
libjasper-1.600.0-75
jpilot-0.99.6-0.pm.1
jakarta-ant-1.5.1-37
java2-1.4.2-0.pm.0
java2-jre-1.4.2-0.pm.0
mjpegtools-1.6.2-1
alice@wonderland:~> rpm -q freemind
freemind-0.7.1-6
alice@wonderland:~> env | grep -i j
JRE_HOME=/usr/lib/java/jre
PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:[etc...]
JAVA_BINDIR=/usr/lib/java/bin
JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/java
SDK_HOME=/usr/lib/java
JDK_HOME=/usr/lib/java
JAVA_ROOT=/usr/lib/java

alice@wonderland:~>

open a new thread in the Help Forum of the FreeMind Project,
select the commands and what they output,
and paste the stuff using the middle button of your mouse in the message body.
Explain also your problem of course.
Add the name and version of your distribution (SuSE 8.2 or whatever).
That should be all.

FreeMind on Linux

Contents

Starting FreeMind

Installed from RPM or DEB package

Installed from ZIP file

Frequently and less frequently Asked Questions

I can't paste branches copied from FreeMind into other applications

I want to add an icon for my Link to FreeMind on my Desktop, is there one?

When starting FreeMind, it says "`java: command not found`". What's wrong?

Why do I get a "No print service found" whenever I attempt to print?

I get an error `java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError` when starting FreeMind

While installing a FreeMind package, it complains Java isn't installed, though I've installed it and Java programs do work

While installing a FreeMind RPM package, it complains Java isn't installed, though I've installed it from an RPM package

How can I make FreeMind use a specific Java Virtual Machine?

Why doesn't the rebuild of the SRPM work under Fedora Core 2

Under Fedora Core 3, Java complains in libawt.so about missing libXp.so.6

Troubleshooting

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FreeMind on Linux

Starting FreeMind

Installed from RPM or DEB package

Installed from ZIP file

Frequently and less frequently Asked Questions

I can't paste branches copied from FreeMind into other applications

I want to add an icon for my Link to FreeMind on my Desktop, is there one?

When starting FreeMind, it says "java: command not found". What's wrong?

Why do I get a "No print service found" whenever I attempt to print?

I get an error java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError when starting FreeMind

While installing a FreeMind package, it complains Java isn't installed, though I've installed it and Java programs do work

While installing a FreeMind RPM package, it complains Java isn't installed, though I've installed it from an RPM package

How can I make FreeMind use a specific Java Virtual Machine?

Why doesn't the rebuild of the SRPM work under Fedora Core 2

Under Fedora Core 3, Java complains in libawt.so about missing libXp.so.6

Troubleshooting

Navigation menu

Search

When starting FreeMind, it says "`java: command not found`". What's wrong?

I get an error `java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError` when starting FreeMind