I downloaded the LimeWireLinux.tgz file, unpacked it and tar xvf'ed it and then downloaded the
j2re-1_3_1-linux-i386.bin file from java and it
seemed to install correctly when I ran it, but
when I went to the Lime Wire directory and:

chandra(19)% sh runlime.sh
Couldn't find or load essential class `java/lang/Object' java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError java/lang/Object

any ideas from anyone? i'm on a shared network so i can't fiddle around with my java installation so easily.