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Thread ID: 79404 2007-05-19 00:58:00 How do I install Firefox on Linux? PeterA (8057) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
550941 2007-05-19 00:58:00 I have been trying for days to install Firefox 2 on my Xandros Linux system without success. I have the version on a PC World disc but after clicking on the Firefox Linux version, using the old browser, I am confronted with a series of folders. They are bin, boot, dev, disks, etc, home, initrd, lib, mnt, opt, proc, root, sbin, tmp, usr, var and vmlinz.
Where do I go from here? Any help much appreciated.

Peter A
PeterA (8057)
550942 2007-05-19 03:00:00 That looks like your filesystem - it'll be asking you to choose a point to download the file to. Possibly. sjaxso (11577)
550943 2007-05-19 03:11:00 Ah yes but where? Which folder?

Peter A
PeterA (8057)
550944 2007-05-19 04:05:00 It will be easiest to get firefox directly from the internet an to try and build it from a .tar.bz2 file.
I've never used Xandros, but it will probably have either a package manager or some install programs/browse programs program. If you go into there, firefox should be available as a download, and all you have to do is click a button... downloading and installation will be done for you.
I believe the firefox comes as a .tar.bz2 file of the PCW disc. This means that you have to extract the files, and probably do several things at the command line to install it - not the most user friendly way of installing programs.
Sherman (9181)
550945 2007-05-19 04:27:00 Thanks Sherman, my problem is that I am on dial-up and the file is probably too big. I will check it out though. The file on the CD opens up and asks to extract but all those folders appear and I cannot find anything in any of them that looks like a program. Linux makes Windows installing child's play.

Thanks again.
Peter A
PeterA (8057)
550946 2007-05-19 05:06:00 firefox is around a 5-9MB download. probably about 1/2 to an hour download.
Believe you me, I know all about dial-up, as my parents have it at home...
If you can afford the time it takes to download it, it will be the easiest option by far...
I'm not sure how to install firefox from an archive sorry. But there others on PF1 that can probably tell you.
Sherman (9181)
550947 2007-05-19 05:23:00 What version of Xandros do you have?

The Xandros forums have a bit about it have a look at this post (forums.xandros.com), the 10th or 11th reply has the solution i think
Morgenmuffel (187)
550948 2007-05-19 10:01:00 Are you trying to get the file off the DVD/CD first? If you click on the "Linux firefox setup 2.0.0.2.tar.gz" link, does Firefox give you the option to save the file to disk? What about right-clicking on the link and selecting "Save Link As"?

Just trying to work out what stage you are up to. :)
Jen (38)
550949 2007-05-19 10:24:00 If Xandros supports apt-get (and I think it does) then it is as simple as going on line as root and typing:
apt-get install firefox

.. and waiting for the software to download and install.
johnd (85)
550950 2007-05-19 10:35:00 OK, re-read the thread and you are trying to save the file off the disk. You need to navigate to your home directory and save the file there - /home/<username>/

Depending upon whether you are the sole user of the PC or if others also have individual log in accounts, there are different installation methods.

As sole user, you can just extract the file and leave the "firefox" folder in your home directory and run it from that location. Inside that folder is the file that launches Firefox. You can launch it by entering in the file path into "Run Command" [ALT-F2].

Example:
/home/PeterA/firefox/firefox
The first firefox above is the folder name, the second is the application launcher.

If that works OK, then you can make your own shortcut icon on the desktop by putting in the same file path. Let us know if you need help with that.

By manually installing Firefox this way, your package manager will not have a record of it, so it will not be upgraded as new versions are released. You may also have to manually create links to the existing plugins that the current Firefox version uses.

Letting your package manager (Xandros Networks) download and install the updated Firefox is a more preferable method.
Jen (38)
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