Do I need to put the files in a specific folder before installing it from the terminal?It keeps telling me that the file is not in the directory

What are you trying to do? (e.g.: Installing what from the terminal?)

If you are installing software, there are often install scripts that must be run in the directory where other key files are.

Please also tell us what version of Linux you are using.

i am using ubuntu 9.04!
And it happens every time i try to install a .bin file or a tar file

Is the file in the directory referred to? Are you in the directory the file refers to in the terminal? Are you doing this in a terminal? What is the "IT" you are referring to that is telling you things?

As requested above, specific information would be helpful. If it happens every time, you should be able to remember one program that failed in this manner.

ok, i'm trying to install jre-6u17-linux-i586-rpm.bin and the file is on the desktop.

can you tell me what the commands that i should type to install it?

Your probably need to change to the desktop directory, e.g.:

then run the file to install it:

However, there are a couple problems. I don't think Ubuntu supports RPM well so you should have gotten the regular .bin and not the rpm.bin. Secondly, at least with Ubuntu 9.10. The JRE is in the repositories so you can just install it with apt-get/aptitude/synaptic which is the preferred method. I am not sure if this is the case with 9.04, but you may want to browse through Synaptic and see, and consider upgrading to 9.10 while you're at it.

First, isn't jre available using the package manager? (Always install SW using the package manager if possible.)

Second, if you get jre for Ubuntu, you don't want RPM (I don't remember all the options)

Finally, there are many kinds of installers, but there are some common principles:

1. If there is an extension like .tar, .gz, .bz2, etc. then you have to extract first.

2. A file ending in .bin is typically expected to be executed, but you often have to set the permissions first. Example--for your case:
3. Instructions are typically available where you got the file, or in something like a README file.

Going back to one of your original questions: Commands are sometimes run in directories that are not listed in the PATH variable. This means that the full path must be given. Suppose, for example, you have that file in /home/username/downloads. That directory would not normally be in PATH, so if you simply type the file name, the system does not know where to look. You can:
a. cd to the directory and enter " ./filename"

b. enter /home/username/downloads/filename

Open a terminal window and type the following if you want to install just the Java Runtime Environment:

If you want to install the JDK as well then type the following:

You might also want to do this after installing Sun Java:

Running Java under Ubuntu

Hope this helps...

cd ~/Desktop "~" do i need to type this or "~" replace it with the file name?
my keyboard isn't doing these special characters

sorry for this stupid question

Tilda is the literal tilds character, which is shift+` (top left of the US English keyboard). Did you read the rest of my post and the other posts in this thread? There are better and easier ways of doing what you want to do than installingthat bin file.

The tilda character is a short notation for your home directory which is /home/<your-user-name>. Desktop is a subdirectory underneath that. Instead of typing the path of the home directory you can use the '~'. If you are not able to type ~ then simply type cd <press-enter> and that should take you to your home directory.