Eclipse on ubuntu throws ClassNotFoundException

I have just performed a fresh install on my pc with the latest ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon). After installing Eclipse I got the following Exception java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.eclipse.core.runtime.Plugin

The problem is that the default java that is installed is not compatible.

ls -l /usr/bin/java
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 22 2008-02-26 14:52 /usr/bin/java -> /etc/alternatives/java

The solution is to install the latest version of java from www.sun.com
and change the java link in /usr/bin. I installed this in /tools/java6 and then created a link called java

cd /tools
sudo ln -fs /tools/java6 java
cd /usr/bin
sudo mv java java_alternatives
sudo ln -fs /tools/java/jdk/bin/java

Welcome

After several years of taking the michael out of a long lasting friend & colleague Andrew Beacock I have come to realise the benefits of blogging to all. Andrews blog has come to be an invaluable resource for our team. So here goes with my little contribution.