sdk on linux

[Mike Brown]

Hello all. I am somewhat new to Java. And completely new to linux. I am having trouble installing the sdk on my suse 9.0 system. I'm sure that the fact that I have a limitied understanding of what it takes to make any kind of application work in linux has something to do with it. Anyway I am excited about learning linux and I want to continue Java with linux. I would appreciate any advice. I have been running the rpm -i command and nothing seems to happen. How can I check to see if it is installed and ready to go? What is the best download to use with suse? There are two types available from sun.One is the self extracting file and the other is a self extracting rpm file. I have some books but I cant seem to find enough info on what it takes to download, install and run an application. Sorry such a newbie question. Any advice or push in the right direction would really be appreciated. Thanks

[Glenn Opdycke-Hansen]

To test if java has been installed, execute:
java -version
from a shell. what you may be missing is either the java home in the path or the java home env variable needs to be set. (probably both)
If I recall correctly, suse has a jdk that can be installed. Also, there might be a link in /usr/ that helps the system find the jdk.
-glenn

[Mike Brown]

Ok, I did that but it only shows the jre. Does that mean that the sdk is not installed?

[Mike Brown]

Do you have any other advice for me?

[Adrian Yan]

Type in >whereis javac, if nothing comes back, then you prolly didn't install it or downloaded the wrong file.
If you are going to download, use the bin one instead of rpm. Install under /usr/local/.