The problem is I don't want to remove java 1.4 so I had to figure out how to reset the links in the alternatives system to point to java 1.5 and not java 1.4 anymore. Here is what I did:
# first install java 1.5. $ sudo aptitude install sun-java5-jre # After the install finished I still had java 1.4 linked via the alternative system. $ java -version java version "1.4.2-02" Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build Blackdown-1.4.2-02) Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build Blackdown-1.4.2-02, mixed mode) # here we can look at the current settings in the alternatives system. $ sudo update-java-alternatives --list java-1.5.0-sun 53 /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.5.0-sun # we want the 1.5 version so need to set that. $ sudo update-java-alternatives --set java-1.5.0-sun # results are clearly that we are on java 1.5 now! $ java -version java version "1.5.0_06" Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0_06-b05) Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 1.5.0_06-b05, mixed mode)