Install Firefox 3.5 in Ubuntu 9.04 using Ubuntuzilla

http://tanu.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/install-firefox-3-5-in-ubuntu-9-04-using-ubuntuzilla/

by tan1337 • 17 years ago

11 24 17 years ago

tanu.wordpress.com

andyking• 17 years ago

This blog post is just copied verbatim from: http://tombuntu.com/index.php/2009/07/15/install-firefox-35-... - except the original has a better written introduction.

tan13374• 17 years ago

Well the blog includes the original author. Only the steps are copied here, not everything.

thenduks2• 17 years ago

My version:

- wget http://www.mozilla.com/products/download.html?product=firefo...

- make && sudo make install

- change symlink at /usr/bin/firefox to point to new binary

tan13374• 17 years ago

Will the updates work in this case ?

gasull• 17 years ago

No if you mean the Ubuntu updates for Firefox. The add-on updates will.

thenduks2• 17 years ago

You just follow the exact same procedure again to update.

nailer7• 17 years ago

make checkinstall.

That way you get a proper package.

nailer7• 17 years ago

Why can't I just visit firefox.com, have it detect my OS, and provide a dpkg to install?

Firefox seems to dedicate less resources to Linux than OS X and Windows. That may be in keeping with their market share, but its certainly not doing their fellow Open Source brethren any favors.

DEinspanjer• 17 years ago

We offer a tarball for Linux that contains a command line installer. The problem is you just requested a dpkg. Others might want a .deb or a .ipackage or a .rpm or any other package flavor. There are fewer package management systems than there are Linux distros, but that doesn't mean there are still a lot.

Additionally, distros tend to want to manage the package building themselves. Some groups want to add in tweaks or configuration templates. Others want to include their own pages or optimizations. We can't logistically consider trying to manage all that centrally, nor would we want to take the control away from those distros.

So, I agree, you do get a slightly less comfortable distribution mechanism for the browser. You get additional control and choice depending on the distro you chose though.

What Mozilla does endeavor to do is make sure that the core code works well on all three platforms. That is where we feel it is most valuable to dedicate our resources.

nailer7• 17 years ago

How is a non-hacker end user supposed to run a tarball? How are they supposed to know what the installer is? Why make it so hard?

Why can't Firefox do what Skype and Miro do (below)?

* If the user string contains Windows, provide an MSI. In these OSes, if you click on a MSI package, it installs.

* If the user string contains OS X, provide a install image. In these OSes, if you click on an install image, it installs.

* If the user string contains Debian or Ubuntu, provide a dpkg. In these OSes, if you click on an dpkg, it installs.

* If the user string contains Fedora, RHEL or SuSE, provide a rpm. In these OSes, if you click on a rpm package, it installs.

* Anything else gets a menu with all the above options.

thras4• 17 years ago

Because then you've just landed yourself in update hell. You'll need to take care of Firefox updates yourself instead of letting the distribution packaged update system take care of it.

This is a real problem with running Firefox on corporate networks. The users don't have admin rights, so they can't click "Update" when Firefox wants to update itself. And administrators can't push the updates out through WSUS. Therefore, the most vulnerable vector on your computer (the browser) gets to remain in an un-updated state.

I think there is a group that repackages Firefox into msi format, which helps a lot. But as far as I know it's independent from Mozilla.

nailer7• 17 years ago

What? There have been third party packages for Linux distros for years. As long as they're of suitable quality, there's no problem.

Not every piece of software comes is Ubuntu or Fedora's default repositories.

defrex• 17 years ago

uh, apt-get install firefox-3.5

Works like a charm for me. Flash too.

jfno67• 17 years ago

Yes it works (that is what I did too), but the user-agent is:

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1) Gecko/20090701 Ubuntu/9.04 (jaunty) Shiretoko/3.5 GTB5

I don't care and don't mind waiting for the meta-package to point to 3.5, but maybe some do.

ieatpizza• 17 years ago

Wow, the major underlying flaws of Linux really come out when you try to do a simple thing like update Firefox! Repositories and software managers is the only way to ensure that Linux will not compete with Windows.

Install Firefox 3.5 in Ubuntu 9.04 using Ubuntuzilla

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