If you need to install Java on a Debian based Linux distribution, do yourself a favor and use a little shell script named oab-java6 The oab-java script completely automates the setup of the necessary items for the installation of Java, it's damn simple to use and it completes the set up in just a couple of minutes (depending on the speed of your internet connection). The best part is that nothing gets installed until you actually install it via apt-get If you want to know more, then read the doc for oab-java6. It's a very quick read.