BUG #3544: SQLException from JDBC driver

The following bug has been logged online:

Bug reference:      3544
Logged by:          Scott Harper
Email address:      scott@mycellularsessions.com
PostgreSQL version: 8.1.9
Operating system:   Debian Linux (2.6.18-4-486)
Description:        SQLException from JDBC driver
Details:

I have installed PostgreSQL 8.1 via the Debian package manager (APT) --
installed the package postgresql-8.1.

We are running Sun Java 5, Apache 2, and Tomcat 5.5.

From the discussion at http://jdbc.postgresql.org/download.html, I have
determined that I should be using the 8.1-410 JDBC 3 driver.

I downloaded the driver, and it is bundled into my servlet's war file in
WEB-INF/lib.

When the servlet makes the DriverManager.getConnection() call, the following
exception is thrown:

org.postgresql.util.PSQLException: Something unusual has occured to cause
the driver to fail. Please report this exception.

I wasn't sure to whom I should report the exception, so I started here.  :)

I should point out that I have successfully run the same servlet, with the
same JDBC driver, on an equivalent installation on Mac OS X.

Any ideas?  Is there anything special I need to know about running JDBC on a
Debian Linux platform?

Thanks,
Scott