[bpamiri]

wheels / wheels-be can't be installed on current Fedora: the rpm requires java-21-openjdk-headless, and Fedora 44 ships only java-25-openjdk-headless / java-latest-openjdk-headless:

nothing provides java-21-openjdk-headless needed by wheels-be-4.2.0~snapshot.2870-1.noarch from wheels-be

Changes (tools/distribution-drafts/linux-packages/, used live by release.yml):

• rpm (both nfpm configs): Requires: (java-21-headless or java-headless >= 1:21). No single name covers both families: Rocky/RHEL's java-21 provides java-21-headless but not the generic java-headless, and Fedora's java-25/latest provides java-headless = 1:25…. A rich dependency needs rpm >= 4.13 (EL8+, Fedora). Java 21 stays first.
• deb (both nfpm configs): openjdk-21-jre-headless | openjdk-21-jre | openjdk-25-jre-headless | openjdk-25-jre. 21 stays first, so it's what apt picks when nothing is installed. Today's Ubuntu/Debian all still package 21; 25 is already the default JRE on newer releases.
• Launcher: _wheels_java_ok already accepts any Java >= 21 (no upper bound), and an only-Java-25 system resolves through the /usr/bin/java alternatives fallback. Only the wording changes: the final error now says "cannot find a Java 21 or newer runtime … any Java 21+ works", and the probe comment matches. tools/test-linux-launcher-java.sh is updated for the new message text.

Does Wheels run on Java 25? Yes: Fedora 44 + java-25-openjdk-headless 25.0.4.1, wheels new + wheels start, GET / 200, Lucee 7.0.0.395.

Verification: packages built locally with this branch through the release script (build-linux-packages.sh, nfpm 2.40.0, snapshot 2870 inputs, CHANNEL=bleeding-edge). The rich dependency survives nfpm and rpm-rewrap.sh (its dependency-equality check passes; rpm2cpio OK on Rocky 9 and 10). Then installed from the local files:

System	Install	Java pulled	wheels --version
Rocky Linux 9.3 (dnf 4)	dnf install ./wheels-be-…noarch.rpm	java-21-openjdk-headless 21.0.11	wheels 4.2.0-snapshot.2870 (bleeding-edge)
Fedora 44 (dnf5)	dnf install ./wheels-be-…noarch.rpm	java-25-openjdk-headless 25.0.4.1	wheels 4.2.0-snapshot.2870 (bleeding-edge)
Ubuntu 24.04	apt-get install ./wheels-be_…_all.deb	openjdk-21-jre-headless 21.0.12.1	wheels 4.2.0-snapshot.2870 (bleeding-edge)
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS	apt-get install ./wheels-be_…_all.deb	openjdk-21-jre-headless 21.0.12.1	wheels 4.2.0-snapshot.2870 (bleeding-edge)
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, openjdk-25 preinstalled	apt-get install ./wheels-be_…_all.deb	none (keeps 25)	wheels 4.2.0-snapshot.2870 (bleeding-edge)

• tools/test-linux-launcher-java.sh passes 19/19 on Linux (ubuntu:24.04). On macOS one case fails on the /var -> /private/var symlink, unrelated and pre-existing.

Once this ships in a release, a Fedora/dnf5 leg can be added to distribution-install-smoke.yml (deferred until now, see #4235).

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[bpamiri]

rev1-r1 review: head d115294a8: APPROVE (LOWs optional)

• rpm: (java-21-headless or java-headless >= 1:21) is a rich dependency (rpm ≥ 4.13, so every EL8+/Fedora target).
  • dnf prefers the first alternative, so Rocky/RHEL stays on 21.
  • On Fedora 44, which has no java-21, the java-headless provider (25) satisfies it.
  • java-17-openjdk-headless provides java-headless = 1:17, so it correctly does not satisfy the dependency.
• deb: 21 | 21-jre | 25-headless | 25-jre keeps 21 as the default pick and accepts 25. That matches your matrix, including 26.04 keeping a preinstalled 25.
• Launcher: it already gates on major ≥ 21. Only the hint text changed, and its test was updated with it.

LOW (optional):

1. A Java 25 install isn't probed by name. The named candidates and the last-resort glob are 21-only (java-21-*, *jre-21*, *-21-*), so a 25-only install is found only via default-java or the /usr/bin/java alternative. If the alternative points at an older JDK while 25 is also installed, the launcher says "cannot find a Java 21 or newer runtime" even though 25 is present. For example: a Fedora box with java-17 selected, plus the java-25 this package now pulls in. Since _wheels_java_ok already version-checks, the last-resort loop could glob /usr/lib/jvm/* (newest first) instead of only *-21-*.
2. The hint names java-21-openjdk-headless for yum/dnf, which doesn't exist on Fedora 44. Suggest adding "(Fedora: java-latest-openjdk-headless)".
3. Optional for deb: OpenJDK packages also provide the virtual java21-runtime-headless (each openjdk-N provides javaK-runtime-headless for K ≤ N, as far as I know). Appending | java21-runtime-headless would accept 26+ and vendor JREs without another edit. Please verify on 26.04 before relying on it.

OK TO MERGE.