Twenty Simple Steps to Installing Firefox

So...you want to run the newest Firefox on your GNU/Linux installation?

Good. Firefox is a reasonably well-done browser, and has only been getting better since 2002.09.23. Even I am impressed by the obvious effort put into the project.

Maybe you're a bit confused, because all this Linux stuff is still pretty new to you; and you don't know what to do with that Firefox download you just pulled over the wire. That's OK. We see things like this all the time.

Trust me. You have absolutely nothing to worry about...because we're here to lend you a helping hand.

Assumptions:

You're running KDE as your Desktop UI,
and 'Ark' is installed on your filesystem.

If the above is true, you'll have a totally-GUI installation experience [CLI afficianados, please see Footnote #1]. (Also assumed is that you have no prior Firefox installation.)

NOTE:
If you're running version 3.3.1 (or later) of the Simply Mepis distribution, assumptions #1 and #2 are true.
The final assumption will be false, but that won't get in our way for the time being.

Let's get started, and you'll be saying, "Is that all there is to it?" in no time at all.

The article images have been thumbnailed and linked to the full-sized images, so you can follow along with readable examples to guide you.

Step 1: Open Konqueror and navigate to http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/.

Step 2: Click on the Download Firefox link.

Step 3: Save the file 'firefox-1.5.0.1.tar.gz' to a known directory on your hard drive.

Yes. Select 'Save As...' We're keeping things simple for the moment.

Step 4: Wait until your download completes.

Step 5: Invoke Konqueror File Manager...

...and Navigate to the directory into which you downloaded 'firefox-1.5.0.1.tar.gz'.

Step 6: Right-Click on 'firefox-1.5.0.1.tar.gz', and select 'Extract > Extract Here'...

...or open with Ark.
If you opened with Ark, select 'Action'. Then select 'Extract'. 'Extract all' to the current directory.

Step 7: Delete 'firefox-1.5.0.1.tar.gz' only after the extraction completes successfully.

Step 8: Invoke Konqueror File Manager in Super User mode...
(If you use it a lot, it will be living in the top of your K Menu:

If you don't use it much, you'll probably have to do: 'K' Menu --> System --> Filesystem --> File Manager - Super User Mode to get at it.)

...enter your root password...

...and navigate to the directory into which you just extracted 'firefox-1.5.0.1.tar.gz'.

Step 9: Right-click on the directory icon 'firefox' and select 'cut'...

...and the directory icon will 'grey-out', confirming the action.

Step 10: If you don't have a directory 'opt' in your / (filesystem root), create it while still in your KFM Super User mode session. (I happen to have an '/opt' directory here.)

Step 11: While still in your KFM Super User mode session, paste...

...the directory 'firefox' into your '/opt' directory; and you'll see something like this:

Step 12: Close your KFM Super User mode session.

Step 13: Right-click on the 'K' menu, and select 'Menu Editor'...

...and the Menu Editor application will launch.

Step 14: Right-click on 'Internet' and select 'New Item...'.

Step 15: Name your new menu item, 'Firefox'.

Step 16: Fill-out the fields exactly as shown in the following screen shot.

Step 17: Click on the icon in the upper-right portion of the following screen shot.

Step 18: Browse the applications icons until you locate the Firefox system icon.

Step 19: Click on the Firefox icon to select it for program link representation.

If you don't have one, use mine: (48 x 48 .png)

Your Menu Editor panel should now look somewhat like this:

Step 20: Drag the menu entry down to where you want it to appear in your menu stack (in this example, I dropped it between 'Remote Desktop Connection' and 'Konqueror (Web Browser)' to preserve my alphebetized browser entries); and click on the 'Save' icon...

...to save all changes.

Some versions of KDE may require you to logout and log back in to see the changes propagate into your 'K' Menu; but, at this point, you've installed Firefox in around 3 minutes. In this demonstration, the menu shortcut was ready to use straight-away.

Admittedly, there are a number of shortcuts that could have been taken throughout this entire process; but, at this stage of the game, this is the most straight-forward and easy to digest method for those who are new to the GNU/Linux Desktop experience.

Now, get Firefox up and running, and install all of those extensions that you've been wanting to try-out; while I cobble-together a few more Point-n-Click tutorials for your consumption.

[Footnote #1]

I am a rabid console user. The shell is my best friend when I'm logged-into my system. I want all Linux new-comers to learn and appreciate the time and work saving capabilities of using the Command Line Interface. I do, however, understand that most windoze refugees aren't used to a shell prompt, nor are they comfortable working in such an environment. (Indeed, most have probably never even seen a DOS prompt on their own win-whatever machines.) They just want to point-and-click their way to the objective.

It is the longer path to doing almost any specified task, but those users who are getting to know Linux need a tutorial similar to the above. That's why I've deliberately avoided any CLI use, and have put the process into a "one step at a time" format.

However, for those who want it, here you go--in a single command line entry and resultant output:

#################### BEGIN "COMMAND LINE STUFF" ####################

root@1[~]# cd /opt; wget http://ftp-mozilla.netscape.com/pub/m |
ozilla.org/firefox/releases/1.5.0.1/linux-i686/en-US/firefox-1.5.0.1.t |
ar.gz; tar -xzvf firefox-1.5.0.1.tar.gz; rm firefox-1.5.0.1.tar.gz; cd /us |
r/bin; rm firefox; ln -s /opt/firefox/firefox firefox
--11:14:00--  http://ftp-mozilla.netscape.com/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/rele
                                ases/1.5.0.1/linux-i686/en-US/firefox-1.5.0.1.tar.gz
           => `firefox-1.5.0.1.tar.gz.1'
Resolving ftp-mozilla.netscape.com... 207.200.66.54
Connecting to ftp-mozilla.netscape.com[207.200.66.54]:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 8,453,707 [application/x-gzip]

100%[========================================>] 8,453,707    187.42K/s    ETA 00:00

11:14:45 (186.53 KB/s) - `firefox-1.5.0.1.tar.gz.1' saved [8453707/8453707]

firefox/
firefox/.autoreg
firefox/chrome/
firefox/chrome/en-US.jar
firefox/chrome/en-US.manifest
firefox/chrome/browser.jar
firefox/chrome/browser.manifest
firefox/chrome/classic.jar
firefox/chrome/classic.manifest
firefox/chrome/comm.jar
firefox/chrome/comm.manifest
firefox/chrome/toolkit.jar
firefox/chrome/toolkit.manifest
firefox/chrome/icons/
firefox/chrome/icons/default/
firefox/chrome/icons/default/default.xpm
firefox/chrome/reporter.manifest
firefox/chrome/reporter.jar
firefox/chrome/pippki.jar
firefox/chrome/pippki.manifest
firefox/defaults/
firefox/defaults/pref/
firefox/defaults/pref/firefox-l10n.js
firefox/defaults/pref/reporter.js
firefox/defaults/pref/firefox.js
firefox/defaults/pref/channel-prefs.js
firefox/defaults/profile/
firefox/defaults/profile/bookmarks.html
firefox/defaults/profile/localstore.rdf
firefox/defaults/profile/prefs.js
firefox/defaults/profile/search.rdf
firefox/defaults/profile/mimeTypes.rdf
firefox/defaults/profile/chrome/
firefox/defaults/profile/chrome/userChrome-example.css
firefox/defaults/profile/chrome/userContent-example.css
firefox/defaults/autoconfig/
firefox/defaults/autoconfig/platform.js
firefox/defaults/autoconfig/prefcalls.js
firefox/browserconfig.properties
firefox/searchplugins/
firefox/searchplugins/amazondotcom.png
firefox/searchplugins/amazondotcom.src
firefox/searchplugins/answers.png
firefox/searchplugins/answers.src
firefox/searchplugins/creativecommons.png
firefox/searchplugins/creativecommons.src
firefox/searchplugins/eBay.gif
firefox/searchplugins/eBay.src
firefox/searchplugins/google.gif
firefox/searchplugins/google.src
firefox/searchplugins/yahoo.gif
firefox/searchplugins/yahoo.src
firefox/updater.ini
firefox/libmozjs.so
firefox/libplc4.so
firefox/libplds4.so
firefox/libxpcom.so
firefox/libxpcom_core.so
firefox/libxpistub.so
firefox/libnspr4.so
firefox/components/
firefox/components/libxpinstall.so
firefox/components/libjar50.so
firefox/components/libjsd.so
firefox/components/nsBrowserContentHandler.js
firefox/components/nsBrowserGlue.js
firefox/components/nsSetDefaultBrowser.js
firefox/components/jsconsole-clhandler.js
firefox/components/nsCloseAllWindows.js
firefox/components/nsDictionary.js
firefox/components/nsFilePicker.js
firefox/components/nsHelperAppDlg.js
firefox/components/nsInterfaceInfoToIDL.js
firefox/components/nsProxyAutoConfig.js
firefox/components/nsSidebar.js
firefox/components/nsXmlRpcClient.js
firefox/components/nsExtensionManager.js
firefox/components/nsUpdateService.js
firefox/components/libmozgnome.so
firefox/components/libnkgnomevfs.so
firefox/components/browser.xpt
firefox/libxpcom_compat.so
firefox/firefox-bin
firefox/firefox
firefox/mozilla-xremote-client
firefox/run-mozilla.sh
firefox/plugins/
firefox/plugins/libnullplugin.so
firefox/res/
firefox/res/cmessage.txt
firefox/res/hiddenWindow.html
firefox/res/ua.css
firefox/res/html.css
firefox/res/quirk.css
firefox/res/forms.css
firefox/res/EditorOverride.css
firefox/res/table-add-column-after-active.gif
firefox/res/table-add-column-after-hover.gif
firefox/res/table-add-column-after.gif
firefox/res/table-add-column-before-active.gif
firefox/res/table-add-column-before-hover.gif
firefox/res/table-add-column-before.gif
firefox/res/table-add-row-after-active.gif
firefox/res/table-add-row-after-hover.gif
firefox/res/table-add-row-after.gif
firefox/res/table-add-row-before-active.gif
firefox/res/table-add-row-before-hover.gif
firefox/res/table-add-row-before.gif
firefox/res/table-remove-column-active.gif
firefox/res/table-remove-column-hover.gif
firefox/res/table-remove-column.gif
firefox/res/table-remove-row-active.gif
firefox/res/table-remove-row-hover.gif
firefox/res/table-remove-row.gif
firefox/res/arrowd.gif
firefox/res/grabber.gif
firefox/res/viewsource.css
firefox/res/mathml.css
firefox/res/arrow.gif
firefox/res/loading-image.gif
firefox/res/broken-image.gif
firefox/res/fonts/
firefox/res/fonts/fontEncoding.properties
firefox/res/fonts/mathfont.properties
firefox/res/fonts/mathfontCMEX10.properties
firefox/res/fonts/mathfontCMSY10.properties
firefox/res/fonts/mathfontMath1.properties
firefox/res/fonts/mathfontMath2.properties
firefox/res/fonts/mathfontMath4.properties
firefox/res/fonts/mathfontMTExtra.properties
firefox/res/fonts/mathfontPUA.properties
firefox/res/fonts/mathfontSymbol.properties
firefox/res/fonts/pangoFontEncoding.properties
firefox/res/dtd/
firefox/res/dtd/mathml.dtd
firefox/res/dtd/xhtml11.dtd
firefox/res/html/
firefox/res/html/gopher-audio.gif
firefox/res/html/gopher-binary.gif
firefox/res/html/gopher-find.gif
firefox/res/html/gopher-image.gif
firefox/res/html/gopher-menu.gif
firefox/res/html/gopher-movie.gif
firefox/res/html/gopher-sound.gif
firefox/res/html/gopher-telnet.gif
firefox/res/html/gopher-text.gif
firefox/res/html/gopher-unknown.gif
firefox/res/unixcharset.properties
firefox/res/charsetalias.properties
firefox/res/charsetData.properties
firefox/res/langGroups.properties
firefox/res/language.properties
firefox/res/entityTables/
firefox/res/entityTables/html40Latin1.properties
firefox/res/entityTables/html40Special.properties
firefox/res/entityTables/html40Symbols.properties
firefox/res/entityTables/htmlEntityVersions.properties
firefox/res/entityTables/mathml20.properties
firefox/res/entityTables/transliterate.properties
firefox/res/svg.css
firefox/xpicleanup
firefox/extensions/
firefox/extensions/{972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd}/
firefox/extensions/{972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd}/install.rdf
firefox/extensions/inspector@mozilla.org/
firefox/extensions/inspector@mozilla.org/install.rdf
firefox/extensions/inspector@mozilla.org/components/
firefox/extensions/inspector@mozilla.org/components/inspector-cmdline.js
firefox/extensions/inspector@mozilla.org/components/libinspector.so
firefox/extensions/inspector@mozilla.org/components/inspector.xpt
firefox/extensions/inspector@mozilla.org/chrome.manifest
firefox/extensions/inspector@mozilla.org/chrome/
firefox/extensions/inspector@mozilla.org/chrome/inspector.jar
firefox/extensions/inspector@mozilla.org/defaults/
firefox/extensions/inspector@mozilla.org/defaults/preferences/
firefox/extensions/inspector@mozilla.org/defaults/preferences/inspector.js
firefox/extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/
firefox/extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/install.rdf
firefox/extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/chrome.manifest
firefox/extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/components/
firefox/extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/components/libqfaservices.so
firefox/extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/components/qfaservices.xpt
firefox/extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/components/talkback/
firefox/extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/components/talkback/master.ini
firefox/extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/components/talkback/talkback
firefox/extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/components/talkback/talkback.so
firefox/extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/components/talkback/XTalkback.ad
firefox/icons/
firefox/icons/mozicon16.xpm
firefox/icons/mozicon50.xpm
firefox/icons/document.png
firefox/icons/mozicon128.png
firefox/greprefs/
firefox/greprefs/all.js
firefox/greprefs/security-prefs.js
firefox/greprefs/xpinstall.js
firefox/libnssckbi.so
firefox/libnss3.so
firefox/libsmime3.so
firefox/libsoftokn3.chk
firefox/libsoftokn3.so
firefox/libssl3.so
firefox/updater
firefox/readme.txt
firefox/removed-files
root@1[bin]#

#################### END "COMMAND LINE STUFF" ####################

You're done in under 47 seconds.