Installing apps in Debian is a piece of cake with sprinkles and whipped cream, once you understand how to use the power of APT, learn how to search for packages apt-get search packagename or install a GUI like kio-apt or (shudder) Synaptic.
Of course using Google to find the answer to a simple issue helps as well.

I don't need to know what I don't do
... I need to know what I do do
... if you'll pardon the expression!

Yeah ... Sorry to be this way but ...

Is THAT supposed to help me?
I've received that Distros for newbies twice.
Is THAT supposed to help me?
I've executed apt-get ... what next???
So I've executed it ... what have I accomplished?
... towards my end result
... I want to run java/javac ...
... so far I'm not there and don't know how to get there.

Sorry ... gotta go to work.

Thanks for your help!
J

Yeah ...
Likeweverything else ... It's easy to do if you know how and impossible if you don't. Good thing is ... helpers like you make the impossible easy ... Thanks.

Find packages? First I heard of THAT.
Little by little the sun begins to shine.
I'm leaving winter and ... maybe ... entering Spring.

Gotta go to work...Laater.

Javac is a command in the terminal. Apt-get installs a program. The distros for newbies is part of my signature that attaches to all my posts.
The jre is a plugin that runs every time you run a java applet in a browser, or a java program like azerus

Gotcha ... sorta.

Now I have jre installed.

What I'm trying to do is run the java compiler ... javac.

supposing I can figure out how to compile a "Hello World" java program ...
How does the jre get "linked" in?

... and how DO I run the java compiler ... I can't find it in my file system ... If I could how do I manage to execute it from a trminal window? I know all this sounds very basic but I have "been there, done that" just haven't been able to "do it from scratch" on my new computer/linux system ... before it was a Windows system.

Gotta to to bed now ... gotta go to work tomorrow.

I (now) understand about the Distros ... It just sorta added to my confusion.

By the way ... At 75 I hava few senior moments.

FYI ... Been working as a programmer since 1957 ... first big IBM machines ... for the Air Force (ANFSQ-7 Sage Air Defense System/ANFSQ-32 Strategic Air Command and Control System) ... all assembly language (Compass), then Fortran, then Pascal, LISP, then Ada, then C now Java, C++, HTML ... it never ends. Now working fulltime on Air Traffic Control systems ... but no Java or HTML ... new things I want to learn ... to sorta keep up ... just can't seem to give it up.

Thanks for everyone's help.

Can anybody help??

you open a terminal and type
javac filename.java jre is the program that runs the java programs

.. so ... there lies the hitch ..

No such file ... Command not found

$which javac ... sorry nothing found

I linda looked around but nothing found,

Didn't really know where to look.

Thanks

To install "javac" execute in a terminal as root user
You are set.

Decided to try it anyway!!

NOT QUITE!!!

sudo apt-get install sun-java5-jdk/CODE
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
E: Couldn't find package sun-java5-jdk
john@athlon64:~$

$ apt-cache search sun-java
openoffice.org - OpenOffice.org Office suite
sun-java5-bin - Sun Java(TM) Runtime Environment (JRE) 5.0 (architecture dependent files)
sun-java5-demo - Sun Java(TM) Development Kit (JDK) 5.0 demos and examples
sun-java5-doc - Sun JDK(TM) Documention -- integration installer
sun-java5-fonts - Lucida TrueType fonts (from the Sun JRE)
sun-java5-jdk - Sun Java(TM) Development Kit (JDK) 5.0
sun-java5-jre - Sun Java(TM) Runtime Environment (JRE) 5.0 (architecture independent files)
sun-java5-plugin - The Java(TM) Plug-in, Java SE 5.0
sun-java5-source - Sun Java(TM) Development Kit (JDK) 5.0 source files
sun-java6-bin - Sun Java(TM) Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 (architecture dependent files)
sun-java6-demo - Sun Java(TM) Development Kit (JDK) 6 demos and examples
sun-java6-doc - Sun JDK(TM) Documention -- integration installer
sun-java6-fonts - Lucida TrueType fonts (from the Sun JRE)
sun-java6-javadb - Java(TM) DB, Sun Microsystems' distribution of Apache Derby
sun-java6-jdk - Sun Java(TM) Development Kit (JDK) 6
sun-java6-jre - Sun Java(TM) Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 (architecture independent files)
sun-java6-plugin - The Java(TM) Plug-in, Java SE 6
sun-java6-source - Sun Java(TM) Development Kit (JDK) 6 source files

Debian software comes in different sections. In order to get sun-java packages, you would need to have "non-free" in your /etc/apt/sources.list. So for example mine (in Lenny, the testing branch of Debian) looks like this: So you will probably need to edit that file. As a start, can you please post the output of My guess is that you don't have the non-free (and contrib) elements.

Yeah ... and aren't you the whipped cream and sprinkles guy? Sure you don't wanna take that back? Lets see ... I've been working this "piece of cake" for two weeks now ... it's either not that easy or I'ma real dunce. ... don't answer that ... By thee way ... I'm just kidding ... but REALLY ... all I wanna do is execute javac! Gee Whizzzz!!!!

Yeah ... and aren't you the whipped cream and sprinkles guy? Sure you don't wanna take that back? Lets see ... I've been working this "piece of cake" for two weeks now ... it's either not that easy or I'ma real dunce. ... don't answer that ... By the way ... I'm just kidding ... but REALLY ... all I wanna do is execute javac! Gee Whizzzz!!!!

See my post above which probably explains why he can see things you can't. Post the output of