I downloaded jre 1.3 AGAIN... installed it AGAIN to /usr/local/jre1.3.1/ This time I noticed the "control panel" application it comes with, and found an option in there that could be set to point to the new version at the location I just installed.

No go, any 'java -version' command at a $ prompt gives the old version. I've no clue how to ensure that Linux knows there's a new version of Java installed, there is no HOWTO on this and Sun's website is completely inadequate (it doesn't tell you more than "execute the bin", well DUH).

What's needed are specific instructions as to how to replace one's old version of Java on various distributions. Does anyone have ANY idea how to do this? It's quite annoying to not be able to use software over such simple impasses.