--------------------------------------
Platform : sparc (Solaris 10), linux (RedHat AS 3.0, SuSE 9.1)
JDK : 1.6.0-b77
Nature : Compiler Crash
----------------------------------------

The compiler crash can be experienced when the /usr/jdk/packges/lib/ext does not have the necessary directory permissions.

The system root has a directory structure /usr/jdk/packages/lib/ext and with the following directory permissions say
jlab213:root% ls -l /usr/jdk/packages/lib
drwx--x--x 3 root root 512 Mar 28 17:05 ext

jlab213:~/src/extloader% cat Test1.java
public class Test1 {
        public static void main(String []args) {
                System.out.println(System.getProperty("java.ext.dirs"));
        }
}

jlab213:~/src/extloader 84 % javac Test1.java
An exception has occurred in the compiler (1.6.0-beta2). Please file a bug at th
e Java Developer Connection (http://java.sun.com/webapps/bugreport) after check
ing the Bug Parade for duplicates. Include your program and the following diagno
stic in your report. Thank you.
java.lang.NullPointerException
        at com.sun.tools.javac.util.Paths$Path.addDirectory(Paths.java:183)
        at com.sun.tools.javac.util.Paths$Path.addDirectories(Paths.java:168)
        at com.sun.tools.javac.util.Paths.computeBootClassPath(Paths.java:275)
        at com.sun.tools.javac.util.Paths.lazy(Paths.java:83)
        at com.sun.tools.javac.util.Paths.bootClassPath(Paths.java:97)
        at com.sun.tools.javac.processing.JavacProcessingEnvironment.initProcess
orIterator(JavacProcessingEnvironment.java:162)
        at com.sun.tools.javac.processing.JavacProcessingEnvironment.<init>(Java
cProcessingEnvironment.java:111)
        at com.sun.tools.javac.main.JavaCompiler.initProcessAnnotations(JavaComp
iler.java:772)
        at com.sun.tools.javac.main.JavaCompiler.compile(JavaCompiler.java:627)
        at com.sun.tools.javac.main.Main.compile(Main.java:766)
        at com.sun.tools.javac.main.Main.compile(Main.java:691)
        at com.sun.tools.javac.main.Main.compile(Main.java:680)
        at com.sun.tools.javac.Main.compile(Main.java:70)
        at com.sun.tools.javac.Main.main(Main.java:55)