How can I find out which Java binary I should install on my Linux server? In Java download page I see: Linux x64 - Self Extracting Installer and Linux x86 - Self Extracting Installer.
Running uname -a I get: Linux 2.6.26-2-amd64 #1 SMP Wed Aug 19 22:33:18 UTC 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux
But the result confuses me, it has both numbers 64 and 86 in it so I still don't know which binary should I take. Could you help me out?
The x86 installer is for 32-bit operating systems, the x64 installer is for 64-bit operating systems. You are running a 64-bit operating system as evidenced by the uname string you provide, therefore you should use the Linux x64 installer.
The kernel architecture is called x86_64 because x86 is 32-bit, and 64-bit functionality was added (by AMD originally), as an extension to the instruction set. Hence why you might sometimes see x86-64 referred to as AMD64.
