[CentOS] A Working 64 bit Browser Plugin - at Last!!

FYI:

Upon installing 64 bit firefox on RHEL 5/Centos5/SAL5 , the first problem 
everyone seems to complain about is no working java plugin. A patched 
plugin from the <discontinued> Blackdown Project was available, but it was 
written against the vulnerable JRE 1.4.2.

I too gave up on this until I discovered Red Hat's "iced tea" project.  The 
latest incantation for Fedora Core 8 loaded well on a RHEL5 box using 
rpm's:

java-1.7.0-icedtea-1.7.0.0-0.19.b21.snapshot.fc8.x86_64.rpm
java-1.7.0-icedtea-plugin-1.7.0.0-0.19.b21.snapshot.fc8.x86_64.rpm
tzdata-java-2007h-1.fc8.noarch.rpm

Then do:

alternatives --config java
and select the new 1.7 JRE.

Usually FC8 stuff doesn't install well on RHEL5/Centos5/SAL5 boxes. 
However, these worked like a charm SO FAR. 
[ Note, if you try these, uninstall all of your firefox extensions first because 
some of them have the potential to create the infamous XBL error message 
for non-root users].  After installation, navigate to Sun's java site and test 
using their applets to make sure you installed correctly.


YMMV.  May cause loss of some functionality elsewhere in the system. If 
you browse for more then four continuous hours you may have contracted 
site fixation disease, contact your physician at once.

regards,

benm