Hi guys! My name is Alex and I recently switched to linux. In my struggle to find the programs that i would call necessitites, I have run into a couple of bumps! On my quest for lime wire, I have learned that a certain java component is necessary for running it. So onward i went, searching hi and low for a linux compatible java. I ran into two, one being a .bin, and another being rpm.bin. Once downloaded I became over whelmes with confusion, for what should have been instally boxes, were just papers with rocket ships. Now the problem is, when double clicked, one asks me to associate the program with another, and the other pops up a window full of computer jibberish, and what seems to be the writing of how the installation program is supposed to work. Knowing what a binary fileis, i thought it would get up, do its dance and go to work, there has been no dancin, or working on my watch. Please help to figure out this mystery once and for all! thankyou!
your fellow baffled linux user,

Alex Macneil.
ps-sorry again to the moderator.....i was having trouble getting my posts to go through.

alex i'm not sure if it's ok, but the .rpm is actually an archive(Redhat Package Manager).now u didn't specify your linux distribution(if it's debian it won't work, u must have a .deb).now I did something like thispen a terminal in the java folder, and write
./whateverthefilename.bin
if it doesn't work u could try .rpm.bin instead of bin;hope it helps.NoLimitz

I'm sorry man, as i said, i know very little of linux, actually very little about computers at all. what do u mean by opening a terminal? i know what terminal is, but i don't know many of the action keys to preform anything using terminal. if you could explain is simpleton terms, why this is happening and possibly an easy way to fix it

He means to open a terminal window, so you get a command prompt where you can enter commands. What GUI are you using (eg. KDE, GNOME, etc)? It might help to know what distribution you're using, also.

Ok.first, what distribution of linux did you install...that u must know.second, a terminal is a window where you write command, something like DOS, if you worked with it...in kde, right-click in the folder->actions->open a terminal here...I sure hope you are logged in as root, if not then write su
and enter root's password.then, something like
linux~# should appear.there you write
./filename.bin or
./filename.rpm.bin
where filename is the name of the java install file...the linux utility should od the rest of the job.any more problems, post...be right here...

I am running fedora core if thats n e help to you, and it uses gnome i believe?

oh and i am logged in under root

i typed in the jre-1_5_0_04-linux-i586.bin and it tell me that there is no suh file or directory!sorry .

Where did you download the file to? Make sure you're in that directory. You also need to put the ./ before the filename.

u must type in the console ./jre etc etc .bin
but the console must be opened in the same dir
if you aren't sure of typing, you can writ the first 2-3 letters and press tab--console will fill it 4 u...

the file is in the root home folder, so i type in /root and it tellsme that, it is a directory, so i type in jre etc.bin and it tells me nothings there :P sorry again!

alex, it should look something like this ::

this is what I've been doing, can you please pick out the faults? because i really can't, you make think I'm daft but I am trying really really hard!

[root@localhost root]# su
[root@localhost root]# /jre-1_5_0_04-linuxi586.bin
bash: /jre-1_5_0_04-linuxi586.bin: No such file or directory
[root@localhost root]# /jre-1_5_0_04-linux-i586
bash: /jre-1_5_0_04-linux-i586: No such file or directory
[root@localhost root]# jre-1_5_0_04-linux-i586
bash: jre-1_5_0_04-linux-i586: command not found
[root@localhost root]# jre-1_5_0_04-linux-i586
bash: jre-1_5_0_04-linux-i586: command not found
[root@localhost root]# /jre-1_5_0_04-linux-i585.bin
bash: /jre-1_5_0_04-linux-i585.bin: No such file or directory
[root@localhost root]# /jre-1_5_0_04-linux-i586.bin
bash: /jre-1_5_0_04-linux-i586.bin: No such file or directory
[root@localhost root]# /jre-1_5_0_04-linux-i586-rpm.bin
bash: /jre-1_5_0_04-linux-i586-rpm.bin: No such file or directory
[root@localhost root]# /jre
bash: /jre: No such file or directory
[root@localhost root]# /root home
bash: /root: is a directory
[root@localhost root]# /root
bash: /root: is a directory
[root@localhost root]# /jre-1_5_0_04-linux-1586.bin
bash: /jre-1_5_0_04-linux-1586.bin: No such file or directory
[root@localhost root]# /desktop
bash: /desktop: No such file or directory
[root@localhost root]# /destop
bash: /destop: No such file or directory
[root@localhost root]# root home
bash: root: command not found
[root@localhost root]# install/jre-1_5_0_04-linux-1586.bin
bash: install/jre-1_5_0_04-linux-1586.bin: No such file or directory
[root@localhost root]# linux:~ # ./jre-1_5_04-linux-1586.bin
bash: linux:~: command not found
[root@localhost root]# linux:~ # /jre-1_5_04-linux-1586.bin
bash: linux:~: command not found
[root@localhost root]#

Use the cd command to change directory, eg. to change to /root, type "cd /root" without the quotes.

If the file you downloaded is jre-1_5_04-linux-1586.bin, type "./jre-1_5_04-linux-1586.bin", again without the quotes. The dot before the slash is important!

Edit: you can also see what files are in a directory by using ls. Using ls by itself will show you the files in the current directory, if you want to see what files are in another directory, type ls and then the path to that directory.

new problem gentlemen. it denied mepermission, but i'm the root user, the su...........doesnt make sense :S