i just downloaded the netbeans/java cobundle. it is a .bin file. i know how to install from source but not a .bin file.

the file name is j2sdk-1_4_2-nb-3_5_1-bin-linux.bin

after reading some posts on this site and googling, i thought i could install using the following command...

./j2sdk-1_4_2-nb-3_5_1-bin-linux.bin

i did not get an error, but it wouldn't install. i just got a new command prompt.

then i tried

sh ./j2sdk-1_4_2-nb-3_5_1-bin-linux.bin

but i got the following error message... cannot execute binary file.

as u can tell by my question, i am new to linux. can someone help me with installing the netbeans/java cobundle?

Try to change mod on the file.

chmod +x j2sdk-1_4_2-nb-3_5_1-bin-linux.bin
./j2sdk-1_4_2-nb-3_5_1-bin-linux.bin

This will do the trick

i am still not able to install. after doing the following...

chmod +x j2sdk-1_4_2-nb-3_5_1-bin-linux.bin
./j2sdk-1_4_2-nb-3_5_1-bin-linux.bin

nothing happens. now errors messages or any messages at all. just displays the command prompt.

has anyone else installed this cobundle?

try console

chmod 777 <filename here>

then ls -l, this should let you see what the permisions are,

then try
./<filename here>

it worked 4 me, so i hope it works 4 u!!

To explain the phenomenon *.bin file:

Sun packages some of her programs in these *.bin files but they are actually shell scripts. The shell scripts searches mostly for some kind of decompression / untarring program, and then unpacks itself. Sometimes even a RPM is packaged this way!

So you'll need a shell to execute the shell script: Just like any other shell script the executable permissions must be set and a shell must be called. There are two options: Start the shell script from the current shell:
$ ./script.bin
Or start a new shell to run the script in:
$ sh ./script.bin
Because most Linux systems run a default shell called "bash" and because most of Suns shell scripts (or bin files) are written to call the C-shell, the second option may be preferred. In real life it doesn't matter because the shell scripts of Sun aren't complicated at all.

There has been a lot of confusion about these .bin files, because the .bin extension is also used by Apple for real binaries - they only can be started on Macintosh systems.