I've downloaded the java aplet i need...and i'm in my terminal...and i'm in root mode....and it says on java.com to :

2. Run the installation script and agree to the license it displays.

Launch the installation script by using the following commands from the directory in which it is located:

chmod a+x j2re-1_4_2_<version number>-linux-i586-rpm.bin

./j2re-1_4_2_<version number>-linux-i586-rpm.bin The script displays a binary license agreement, which you are asked to agree to before installation can proceed. Once you have agreed to the license, the install script creates the file j2re-1_4_2_<version number>-linux-i586.rpm in the current directory.


Then it says :

3. Become root by running the su command and entering the super-user password.

4. Run the rpm command to install the packages:

The following command installs the packages comprising the JRE.

rpm -iv j2re-1_4_2_<version number>-linux-i586.rpm


I'm really trying to learn this without always asking my dad to come over and do it for me....i mean really i'm 20 i should be able to do this myself....WHAT ON EARTH do i type in my terminal to install the file i downloaded....i would love you forever!

ok i am not sure where your stuck at ?
and its just how you typed everything that i am not sure what you did or didn't do .
so are you saying you did them steps and its not installing or your getting an error or something ?

i don't understand the steps
hahahahahah what on earth do they all mean....i'm blonde and i'm a woman....i think that's what i have goin wrong hahahahaha ok...so what do i do...in english i guess is what i want to know

ok well i will start with the understanding that you have downloaded the file and that you know how to open a terminal ... so basically i am going to be saying what you have supplied, because it can't be really elaborated on any more than it is, so here it goes ...
in your terminal you will type (or copy/paste if terminal supports it)

chmod a+x j2re-1_4_2_<version number>-linux-i586-rpm.bin

where you replace <version number> with obviously the version number in the file name .... so purely as an example :
chmod a+x j2re-1_4_2_1.4.0_02-linux-i586-rpm.bin
now what that command is actually doing is giving execute permissions to the file, so you can do the next step which is to actually execute it and for you can see that license agreement that they are talking about
so to execute you will put ./ in front of the filename so sticking with my example you will type something like the following (you will have to use the correct filename):

./j2re-1_4_2_1.4.0_02-linux-i586-rpm.bin

so then the next step simply says switch to root, which you said you were already root so i assume you know you type su - and then type the root password ...

and then it says run the rpm command to install it, and the rpm command is simply rpm along with some arguments, in which they use iv ... so you will type, again using my example filename :

rpm -iv j2re-1_4_2_1.4.0_02-linux-i586.rpm

and that would cover each step in as much detail as i could do .. hope this helps out, and don't hesitate to ask anymore questions

Hello DrOzz,

Would this be allright too?

./java*.bin

* replacing any characters after "java".

cheers

i've done all of those steps and it seems to be installed now, and when i went into Konqueror i clicked on the file and it brought up a box asking me for my root password so i gave it then it gave me a "gmessage" saying "everything is already installed...soo i went to yahoo.com where i know you have to have java to play yahoo pool....in the games section but it's still not working...like i don't have java...is there anything else i need to do to get it running? by the way so far i've learned a whole lot, thank you so much for your help i totally appreciate it. I'm glad to be learning along the way instead of just asking my dad to install it for me.

yes there is more that has to be done ... and instead of explaining it, i am going to point you to :
this thread
which explains it very well ....
and of course you can skip the steps where it shows how to install it ...

and yes eeried that probably would work, but since you show that lazy way of typing it, i'd like to enlighten you with the little trick of tab completion ....
and that is say you have a file thats called java-2844-44y-package-348.rpm then when you at the prompt you can type
./java- <press tab>
and it will auto complete the whole filename for you
give it a try !

Ah yes, thanks, DrOzz, for reminding me of the tab key!
It isn't so much being lazy, it's also that typing looong file name you often make mistakes or even a tniy mistakes and nothing works.

Thanks for the link to Jav installation. I too need it!

Cheers