In the file $CATALINA_HOME/bin/setclasspath.sh on line 13, and again on line 24 the script incorrectly test for read permissions instead of execute. Catalina should not at all be interrested in whether these files can be read, but rather, can they be executed. As such -r should be replaced with -x. For what it's worth, I'm running debian 3.0 (woody) and are using the tomcat4 package thereof: ii tomcat4 4.0.3-3 Java Servlet 2.3 engine with JSP 1.2 support
Your proposed patch has been applied to CVS for TC4 (and TC5).