http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/download.html
did you download the right package? try grabbing this one: "Linux RPM in self-extracting file". also decide whether you want to start learning how to write java programs or not. if so, grab the SDK package. if not grab the JRE package.
the file is a .bin file, so you'll have to extract it from the command line. open up a shell terminal and use the 'cd' command to navigate to where you downloaded the *.bin file and use this command:
./*.bin
use that only if you know for sure that's the only .bin file in the current directory. else use the whole filename.
an rpm will be extracted from that .bin file. just click on the rpm to install it. then you'll want to add java to your path. i use pathmunge in /etc/profile to make the path global.
Code:
# Path manipulation
if [ `id -u` = 0 ]; then
pathmunge /sbin
pathmunge /usr/sbin
pathmunge /usr/local/sbin
fi
pathmunge /usr/X11R6/bin after
JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/j2sdk1.4.2_01
pathmunge $JAVA_HOME/bin after
export JAVA_HOME
it's the last 3 lines you want to insert into /etc/profile. also change j2sdk1.4.2_01 to whatever the folder name is in /usr/java if using the JRE package.
then you'll need to create a link to the java plugin in all your browser's plugins folder. you can use the command line as root. i don't use the jre package so i don't know what the full correct path is to the java plugin for the JRE package. you'll have to dig around in your java install. all i know is the last part of the file path should be:
...../plugin/i386/ns610-gcc32/libjavaplugin_oji.so
