Possibly you downloaded the tarball from an ftp server with TEXT mode turned on. That'll scramble them every time. Or, since apparently tar is apparently going through an identity crisis, maybe you downloaded a Solaris or other non-Linux tarball.
You "uninstall" by deleting whatever might have been extracted by tar into the current directory. That is, "rm -rf jakarta-tomcat-xxxxx" where "xxxx" is the version-dependent part of the directory name.
If you're using an RPM-style distro, I recommend you download and install the RPM rather than take the tarball. It places files in their preferred locations around the system (config files in /etc, executables in /bin, and so forth). Otherwise they'll all clump under the jakarta-tomcat-xxxx directory. Which is fine, but you lose some of the amenities. It's easier to backup /etc and get ALL config files, than have to chase them all over /usr/local or /opt or wherever. Also, under RedHat, you can start and stop
Tomcat via the generic service controller "/sbin/service", making it simpler to bring up automatically on boot.
The downside to the RPM is that it has no sample apps supplied. That means fewer security risks, but no simple way to
test for a successful install and configure.
Some people, when well-known sources tell them that fire will burn them, don't put their hands in the fire.
Some people, being skeptical, will put their hands in the fire, get burned, and learn not to put their hands in the fire.
And some people, believing that they know better than well-known sources, will claim it's a lie, put their hands in the fire, and continue to scream it's a lie even as their hands burn down to charred stumps.
