Installing the JDK
The Sun JDK is no longer in Ubuntu's main package repository. In order to download it, you need to add the appropriate repository and indicate to the system which JDK should be used.
Java 6: for Gingerbread and newer
$ sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.canonical.com/ lucid partner"
$ sudo add-apt-repository "deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu lucid partner"
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jdk
Java 5: for Froyo and older
$ sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper main multiverse"
$ sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-updates main multiverse"
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install sun-java5-jdk