So here's how I got it working:
@Mitch in a comment above was helpful in providing a link
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1116368
at the bottom of this page another commenter actually created a .deb file that would install ibm-java-6 and it worked perfectly for me.
http://3dslice.net/downloads/PrimeGen/ibm-j2sdk1.6_1.6.0_powerpc.deb
unfortunately at the time of writing , this link is broken and the instructions on the previous page do not work either. Also at the time of writing IBM provides the JRE for java 7 but not the sdk so if you want them both you will need to follow the directions below.
Sign up here and download the sdk bin file for java 6
find the bin file for "32-bit IBM POWER"
then make sure you change to the html installer
you will then have to create an account and sign in, in order to download the file
All you need to do is download the sdk file because the JRE is included in it
tgz package (InstallAnywhere)
ibm-java-sdk-6.0-13.1-linux-ppc.bin (98 MB)
After you download this file I like to put all my non repository installs into the /opt folder but you may not care, however that is what I will be doing.
Make a new folder
sudo mkdir /opt/JavaIBM
copy the java sdk that you downloaded into the JavaIBM folder. This step really is not completely necessary.
to unpack the bin file all you need to do is run it as you would any script. Hope you have not uninstalled any older versions of java at this point because you will need java in order to install this.
make the file installable
cd /opt/JavaIBM
sudo chmod a+x <java .bin filename>
run the script
sudo ./<java .bin filename>
a java installer will pop up and just go through the prompts.
NEXT YOU WILL HAVE TO UPDATE YOUR SYSTEM TO USE THE NEW JAVA
I will be using the instructions on this page
http://www.wikihow.com/Install-Oracle-Java-on-Ubuntu-Linux
Edit the system PATH file /etc/profile and add the following system variables to your system path. Use nano, gedit or any other text editor, as root, open up /etc/profile.
Type/Copy/Paste: sudo gedit /etc/profile
or
Type/Copy/Paste: sudo nano /etc/profile
9
Scroll down to the end of the file using your arrow keys and add the following lines below to the end of your /etc/profile file:
Type/Copy/Paste:
JAVA_HOME=/opt/JavaIBM/ibm-java-ppc-6
PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin:$JAVA_HOME/bin
JRE_HOME=/opt/JavaIBM/ibm-java-ppc-6/jre
PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin:$JRE_HOME/bin
export JAVA_HOME
export JRE_HOME
export PATH
10
Save the /etc/profile file and exit.
Notice at this point that the sdk and the jre are both in the same ibm-java-6 folder
The sdk folder is just the main folder and the jre folder is actually called jre
be careful
Inform your Ubuntu Linux system where your Oracle Java JDK/JRE is located. This will tell the system that the new Oracle Java version is available for use.
Type/Copy/Paste: sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/java" "java" "/opt/JavaIBM/ibm-java-6/jre/bin/java" 1
this command notifies the system that Oracle Java JRE is available for use
Type/Copy/Paste: sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/javac" "javac" "/opt/JavaIBM/ibm-java-6/bin/javac" 1
this command notifies the system that Oracle Java JDK is available for use
Type/Copy/Paste: sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/javaws" "javaws" "/opt/JavaIBM/ibm-java-6/jre/bin/javaws" 1
this command notifies the system that Oracle Java Web start is available for use
12
Inform your Ubuntu Linux system that Oracle Java JDK/JRE must be the default Java.
Type/Copy/Paste: sudo update-alternatives --set java /opt/JavaIBM/ibm-java-6/jre/bin/java
this command will set the java runtime environment for the system
Type/Copy/Paste: sudo update-alternatives --set javac /opt/JavaIBM/ibm-java-6/bin/java
this command will set the javac compiler for the system
Type/Copy/Paste: sudo update-alternatives --set javaws /opt/JavaIBM/ibm-java-6/jre/bin/javaws
this command will set Java Web start for the system
13
Reload your system wide PATH /etc/profile by typing the following command:
Type/Copy/Paste: . /etc/profile
be careful that you know where your java files got installed and that you understand that the sdk is the root folder that was created ibm-ppc-java-6 or whatever name it was and that the jre is the jre folder inside of that folder... both folders have bin folders but they are slightly different.
It turns out I needed to explicitly add support for 32-bit architecture to the system.
openjdk-7-jre:i386 installed successfully after I did this:
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jre:i386
NOTE: ia32-libs and any other necessary prerequisites are automatically selected and installed when you install openjdk-7-jre:i386. There's no need to install ia32-libs manually, and it's best to install the automatically selected libraries to ensure you definitely get the right version etc.
Best Answer
Check out: