--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ bin
 build
 build2
 cachedir
+.jython_cache
 dist
 target
 

--- a/.hgignore
+++ b/.hgignore
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ ant.properties
 build
 build2
 cachedir
+.jython_cache
 dist
 publications
 reports

--- a/Lib/test/test_httpservers.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_httpservers.py
@@ -417,10 +417,7 @@ class CGIHTTPServerTestCase(BaseTestCase
             os.chdir(self.cwd)
             if self.pythonexe != sys.executable:
                 os.remove(self.pythonexe)
-            os.remove(self.file1_path)
-            os.remove(self.file2_path)
-            os.rmdir(self.cgi_dir)
-            os.rmdir(self.parent_dir)
+            test_support.rmtree(self.parent_dir)
         finally:
             BaseTestCase.tearDown(self)
 

--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ https://github.com/jythontools/jython
 
 Jython 2.7.2b4
   Bugs fixed
-
+    - [ 2862 ] Jython fails on Linux for normal user when installed by root
 
 Jython 2.7.2b3
   Bugs fixed
@@ -122,6 +122,9 @@ Jython 2.7.2b1
     - There is much improved support for locale, but as a backward-incompatible change, it is
       provided as an opt-in. Define property python.locale.control=settable on the command line
       or via the Jython registry, to enable. This  may become the default in a later version.
+    - The default location of the Jython package cache has moved from the installation directory
+      to the current working directory and called ".jython_cache". Previously, Jython installed
+      system-wide either exposed the cache as world read-write (a security risk) or disabled it.
 
 Jython 2.7.2a1
   Bugs fixed

--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -157,6 +157,9 @@ informix.jar = ../support/jdbc-4.10.12.j
         <property name="python.lib" value="${basedir}/lib-python/2.7" />
         <property name="extlibs.dir" value="${basedir}/extlibs" />
 
+        <!-- Cache we need to clean (now it is not in dist.dir) -->
+        <property name="cache.dir" value="${basedir}/.jython_cache" />
+
         <!-- Source specifically for test: -->
         <property name="test.source.dir" value="${basedir}/tests/java" />
         <property name="bugtests.dir" value="${basedir}/bugtests" />
@@ -413,12 +416,14 @@ informix.jar = ../support/jdbc-4.10.12.j
     <target name="clean" depends="common-dirs, clean-test"
         description="Delete contents of working directories">
         <delete includeemptydirs="true" failonerror="false">
+            <!-- the package cache (now it is not in dist.dir). -->
+            <fileset dir="${cache.dir}" includes="**/*" erroronmissingdir="false" />
             <!-- all files and subdirectories of ${build.dir}, without ${build.dir} itself. -->
             <fileset dir="${build.dir}" includes="**/*" defaultexcludes="false" />
             <!-- all files and subdirectories of ${dist.dir}, without ${dist.dir} itself. -->
             <fileset dir="${dist.dir}" includes="**/*" defaultexcludes="false" />
             <!-- all files and subdirectories of ${pubs.dir}, without ${pubs.dir} itself. -->
-            <fileset dir="${pubs.dir}" includes="**/*" />
+            <fileset dir="${pubs.dir}" includes="**/*" erroronmissingdir="false" />
         </delete>
     </target>
 
@@ -428,7 +433,7 @@ informix.jar = ../support/jdbc-4.10.12.j
             <!-- all files and subdirectories of ${build.dir}, without ${build.dir} itself. -->
             <fileset dir="${build.dir}" includes="**/*" excludes="gensrc/**" />
             <!-- all files and subdirectories of ${dist.dir}, without ${dist.dir} itself. -->
-            <fileset dir="${dist.dir}" includes="**/*" excludes="cachedir/**, Lib/**" />
+            <fileset dir="${dist.dir}" includes="**/*" excludes="Lib/**" />
         </delete>
     </target>
 

--- a/registry
+++ b/registry
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@
 
 # Set the directory to use for caches (currently just package information)
 #   This directory should be writable by the user. If this is an absolute path it is used as given,
-#   otherwise it is interpreted relative to sys.prefix (typically the directory of this file).
-python.cachedir = cachedir
+#   otherwise it is interpreted relative to the current working directory (at initialisation).
+#python.cachedir = .jython_cache
 
 # Setting this property to true disables the package scan for the cachedir.
 # Please be aware that disabling this will break importing * from java packages
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ python.cachedir = cachedir
 
 # Properties to check for initializing and updating the package cache
 # Values shown here are those hard-coded in Jython's cache manager.
+
 #   Treat JARs on the classpath and (up to Java 8) in the JRE as a source of Python packages.
 #python.packages.paths = java.class.path, sun.boot.class.path   # up to Java 8
 #python.packages.paths = java.class.path                        # from Java 9
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ python.cachedir = cachedir
 #python.packages.directories = java.ext.dirs    # up to Java 8
 #python.packages.directories                    # undefined from Java 9
 
+
 # DEPRECATED way to set the verbosity of messages output by Jython. If
 # specified, "python.verbose" will set logging level for "org.python" when
 # the runtime is initialised. It is better to use java.util.logging

--- a/src/org/python/core/PySystemState.java
+++ b/src/org/python/core/PySystemState.java
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ public class PySystemState extends PyObj
 
     private static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger("org.python.core");
 
-    protected static final String CACHEDIR_DEFAULT_NAME = "cachedir";
+    private static final String CACHEDIR_DEFAULT_NAME = ".jython_cache";
 
     public static final String JYTHON_JAR = "jython.jar";
     public static final String JYTHON_DEV_JAR = "jython-dev.jar";
@@ -1270,9 +1270,11 @@ public class PySystemState extends PyObj
         }
         cachedir = new File(props.getProperty(PYTHON_CACHEDIR, CACHEDIR_DEFAULT_NAME));
         if (!cachedir.isAbsolute()) {
-            String prefixString = Py.fileSystemDecode(prefix);
+            String prefixString = props.getProperty("user.dir", "");
             cachedir = new File(prefixString, cachedir.getPath());
+            cachedir = cachedir.getAbsoluteFile();
         }
+        logger.log(Level.CONFIG, "cache at {0}", cachedir);
     }
 
     private static void initPackages(Properties props) {