Same DistroRelease as above, linux-generic 3.2.0.30.32. I have pretty much the same as reported, both with 7u7-2.3.2-1ubuntu0.12.04.1 and with 6b24-1.11.4-1ubuntu0.12.04.1. This started after the following upgrades (from /var/dpkg/log): 2012-09-13 10:24:04 upgrade openjdk-7-jdk 7~u3-2.1.1~pre1-1ubuntu3 7u7-2.3.2-1ubuntu0.12.04.1 2012-09-04 11:26:10 upgrade openjdk-6-jdk 6b24-1.11.3-1ubuntu0.12.04.1 6b24-1.11.4-1ubuntu0.12.04.1 Example from Eclipse .metadata/.log in one of my workspaces: eclipse.buildId=I20120608-1400 java.version=1.6.0_24 java.vendor=Sun Microsystems Inc. BootLoader constants: OS=linux, ARCH=x86_64, WS=gtk, NL=nb_NO Command-line arguments: -os linux -ws gtk -arch x86_64 !ENTRY org.eclipse.ui.workbench 4 2 2012-09-14 12:01:40.224 !MESSAGE Problems occurred when invoking code from plug-in: "org.eclipse.ui.workbench". !STACK 1 org.eclipse.core.runtime.CoreException: Plug-in "org.eclipse.equinox.p2.ui.sdk.scheduler" was unable to instantiate class "org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.ui.sdk.scheduler.AutomaticUpdateScheduler". at org.eclipse.core.internal.registry.osgi.RegistryStrategyOSGI.throwException(RegistryStrategyOSGI.java:194) at org.eclipse.core.internal.registry.osgi.RegistryStrategyOSGI.createExecutableExtension(RegistryStrategyOSGI.java:188) at org.eclipse.core.internal.registry.ExtensionRegistry.createExecutableExtension(ExtensionRegistry.java:905) at org.eclipse.core.internal.registry.ConfigurationElement.createExecutableExtension(ConfigurationElement.java:243) at org.eclipse.core.internal.registry.ConfigurationElementHandle.createExecutableExtension(ConfigurationElementHandle.java:55) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchPlugin$1.run(WorkbenchPlugin.java:273) at org.eclipse.swt.custom.BusyIndicator.showWhile(BusyIndicator.java:52) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchPlugin.createExtension(WorkbenchPlugin.java:269) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.EarlyStartupRunnable.getExecutableExtension(EarlyStartupRunnable.java:117) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.EarlyStartupRunnable.run(EarlyStartupRunnable.java:66) at org.eclipse.core.runtime.SafeRunner.run(SafeRunner.java:42) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench$52.run(Workbench.java:2357) at org.eclipse.core.internal.jobs.Worker.run(Worker.java:54) Caused by: java.lang.ExceptionInInitializerError at com.ibm.icu.util.TimeZone.getDefault(TimeZone.java:754) at com.ibm.icu.util.Calendar.getInstanceInternal(Calendar.java:1626) at com.ibm.icu.util.Calendar.getInstance(Calendar.java:1590) at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.ui.sdk.scheduler.AutomaticUpdateScheduler.(AutomaticUpdateScheduler.java:50) at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.java:57) at sun.reflect.DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.java:45) at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Constructor.java:532) at java.lang.Class.newInstance0(Class.java:372) at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Class.java:325) at org.eclipse.core.internal.registry.osgi.RegistryStrategyOSGI.createExecutableExtension(RegistryStrategyOSGI.java:184) ... 11 more Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException at sun.util.calendar.ZoneInfoFile.getZoneIDs(ZoneInfoFile.java:785) at sun.util.calendar.ZoneInfo.getAvailableIDs(ZoneInfo.java:535) at java.util.TimeZone.getAvailableIDs(TimeZone.java:516) at com.ibm.icu.impl.JavaTimeZone.(JavaTimeZone.java:37) From where I'm sitting, this is a fatal showstopper bug, as far as the JDK package is concerned -- it is no longer possible for me to do development on my Ubuntu workstation.