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How to Install Firefox 6 in Ubuntu 10.10 and 10.04?

Mozilla Firefox is a highly secure web browser which is as good as the Google Chrome (okay, Chrome is a bit faster :D). I remember the excitement that I felt in the past after seeing Mozilla releasing a new version of their browser after a "long" time in today's standards but now were seeing rapid release schedules that are rolled-out in like 3-4 months cycle which makes the whole process a bit "usual" and a bit boring too :D.

Anyhow Mozilla has finally released their next version of the web browser, Firefox 6.0 which brings few changes to the GUI + especially for GNU/Linux users, Firefox 6.0 is now faster than ever thanks to the GCC 4.5 compiler series, "aggressive optimizations" according to Mike Hommey (a Mozilla developer) who wrote a post sometime ago.

Main features...

*. Well, if you've been using the it from the Beta version, then there aren't that many changes concerning the overall GUI and windows. But as said the address bar now highlights the "Top level" domain name, not a biggie, but maybe useful to some.

*. As said loads and feels a bit faster for the GNU/Linux users where in the past Firefox Windows version was always superior to the GNU/Linux version which "was" sad since Mozilla itself was an open-source project.

*. Reduced memory consumptions (as much as by 30% in some cases!).

*. Enhanced support for HTML 5 and CSS animations.

*. A newly added feature called "Permission manager" that lets us easily configure the behavior of passwords, cookies, pop-up, etc with ease. You can access its window by using the below command in the Firefox address bar.
about:permissions 

*. Better Java-script support (thanks to the Scratchpad, developers can easily build and run Java-scripts with ease in this version of Firefox).

*. Few improvements over the Firefox Sync app ... are just a few to mention.

You can install Firefox 6.0 in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat and 10.04 Lucid Lynx by using the below commands in your Terminal window.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade
But please be aware that the 11.04 packages are not released yet but this PPA is actually for the Maverick and Meerakt users (lucky geeks!) thus for the Natty users, I think FF6 will arrive in the official repositories with in few hours . So we gotta be a little patient :/.

If you want a more "cleaner" installation, then backup your bookmarks, etc and completely remove the current firefox by using the below command.
sudo apt-get purge firefox

Then follow the installation using the above commands.

That's it. 

12 comments:

  1. ThioshPAugust 17, 2011 at 5:56 PM

    thanx a milli Gayan.

    ReplyDelete
  2. GayanAugust 17, 2011 at 6:54 PM

    @ThioshP,

    You are welcome :).

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousAugust 18, 2011 at 2:10 AM

    Hi,
    I first used the "purge" command, and then installed the new version using the above commands.
    Now the FF button disapeared from the "Internet" menu... How can I get it back ?
    Thx

    ReplyDelete
  4. GayanAugust 18, 2011 at 5:26 AM

    @Anonymous,

    Hi,

    Well, that should automatically be added once you do a reboot or a re-login.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousAugust 24, 2011 at 4:47 AM

    I did this and all it did was upgrade from 3.6.16 to 3.6.20...

    ReplyDelete
  6. GayanAugust 24, 2011 at 5:25 AM

    @Anonymous,

    Hi,

    Well it should've worked!.

    Okay, then first back-up all your firefox data first (bookmarks, etc) and then use the below command to remove it completely.

    sudo apt-get purge firefox

    Now use the below three commands to install the version 6

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable

    sudo apt-get update

    sudo apt-get install firefox

    Just curious, What's your Ubuntu version?, remember, this PPA is only for 10.10 and 10.04 users.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Paul KorirAugust 25, 2011 at 2:48 AM

    Thanks. It worked like a charm.

    ReplyDelete
  8. GayanAugust 25, 2011 at 5:24 AM

    @Paul,

    You are welcome :D.

    ReplyDelete
  9. kdichAugust 27, 2011 at 10:25 PM

    Help me,please !
    I want to upgrate my firefox up to 6.0.I using version 3.6 in ubuntu 10.04.
    But when I do as above,my system request me restart.After I join my Ubuntu,keyboard don't operation.All disk(format by NTFS) don't mounted,althought formerly good mount and I normally access.Generally speaking,my system no normally.please help me!

    ReplyDelete
  10. GayanAugust 28, 2011 at 8:50 AM

    @kdich,

    Well, I honestly don't think upgrading to FF6 would be the reason for that. Anyhow, here are few things that you can try.

    1. First, reboot your Ubuntu OS and when you arrive at the boot-menu, go with the (usually the second option) menu that says "(recovery mode).

    ***** Now I assume that your keyboard stops working as soon as you log-into the desktop. But if it does not work from the beginning and you can't even change the boot-menu options... then it could be a hardware fault. In that case, turn off the pc and try remove it and re-insert. ******

    Back to the topic,

    this second option will guide you to a basic desktop log-in. You'll see your graphics (wallpapers, etc) are very low in quality, etc which is pretty normal. And if you find your keyboard is working in the "recovery mode", then...

    2. Then open your Terminal and enter the below command.

    sudo apt-get update

    sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

    3. Now restart your Ubuntu OS and when you arrive at the boot-menu, this time just choose your usual boot-menu option and try to log-into the desktop... hopefully this may work...

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousOctober 26, 2011 at 11:28 PM

    many thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. GayanOctober 26, 2011 at 11:43 PM

    @Anonymous,

    Glad you found it useful mate! :).

    ReplyDelete