I posted this message as a reply to a different subject, and I heard that some people were having problems finding it so here it is:

I have never had a problem with jEdit and Fedora Core 3, any other Java app, or any Linux distro + Java for that matter. And you won't either.

Just unpack the JDK into whatever directory you feel like it.
For this example I am gonna say that I decided to unpack the JDK under /home/java. And no, I did not use the rpm. Just go to http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/index.jsp (pay a visit to http://www.java.com/en/ to see some cool java stuff) and get the .bin file, chmod to 755, run and unpack. Then copy to wherever place you want. Get the JDK not the JRE. It's bigger, meaner and better (who knows, someday you may want to cook that Java app that will get Microsith out of business --if the mighty Linux does not do that first, of course).

Make sure that your ~/.bash_profile has a line like:
PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH
and not
PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin

It wouldn't hurt to add another line like:
JAVA_HOME=/home/java

You should also have a line below like:
export PATH JAVA_HOME
note that there is a space between PATH and JAVA_HOME


save your ~/.bash_profile and create a directory bin under your home directory:
mkdir ~/bin
if it does not exist.
cd into ~/bin and create a soft link:
ln -s /home/java/bin/java java
that points to the bin/java inside your Java directory;
you may need to do:
source ~/.bash_profile
or even log out and log back in for the changes to take place. Anyhow, you should be able to do:
java -version
and see something like:

java version "1.5.0"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0-b64)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.5.0-b64, mixed mode)

or something similar depending on your JDK version.

now that you have the Java executable at your reach (shell-wise that is), you can run any Java programs.

If you are using Firefox, you may as well allow Firefox to execute applets/java programs; in that case pay at trip to:
cd ~/.mozilla/plugins and do:
ln -s /home/java/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so libjavaplugin_oji.so

Now you should be able to install jEdit. I am gonna assume that jEdit has been installed into /home/myhome/jedit.

Now go back to your ~/bin and create a file called jedit: vi jedit
The file should contain the following 4 lines:

#!/bin/sh
# Java heap size, in megabytes
JAVA_HEAP_SIZE=32
exec "java" -mx${JAVA_HEAP_SIZE}m ${JEDIT} -jar "/home/myhome/jedit/4.2/jedit.jar" $@

or:

#!/bin/sh
# Java heap size, in megabytes
JAVA_HEAP_SIZE=32
exec "$JAVA_HOME/bin/java" -mx${JAVA_HEAP_SIZE}m ${JEDIT} -jar "/home/myhome/jedit/4.2/jedit.jar" $@

should also work. Anyhow, save the file and make sure that it is executable: chmod 755 jedit
cd back to your home directory: cd ~/ and try: jedit &

and if you have lots of RAM memory, bump up that 32 to 64, 128 or whatever.
If you have had problems in jEdit complaining about the maximum memory allocated to Java, now you'll now how and where to solve that too (I did indeed have a memory shortage problem with extremely huge files).


Now you are done. Enjoy jEdit!!!