This is the only Linux version of portable Firefox I have found, and it's not the latest version. http://www.mininova.org/det/2728613

Thanks for responding.

I wonder what the Linux, e.g. UBUBTU users do when they need to upgrade their FF browsers?

I'll check Miniova.

Best wishes.

A

Ubuntu updates their version of Firefox thru the Ubuntu program repository.

When Ubuntu is installed to the hard drive it checks for updates to all programs that were initially installed, and installed at a later date thru the repository, about 5 minutes after the PC is turned on each day. Updates are provided at least once a week for the OS files from what I have seen on my EeePC; installed programs are updated whenever an update is posted to the repository.

No way to update a LiveCD version though, you need to download a later version and burn it to CD to get the updates.

See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Firefox,_Portable_Edition
https://www.privacyfoundation.de/wiki/PortableLinuxApps

Cor-el,

Thanks for responding and for the interesting link: privacyfoundation.

I have read this page, but can't quite make out what they mean.

Are they saying that if I downnload the script, then I will be able to download Firefox for Windows and it will automatically convert to run under Linux. That is, that FF for windows.exe will become FF or Linux.exe. And portable.

Thanks

Best wishes.

A

No, you can't run a windows version of Firefox on Linux unless you use an emulator like Wine.

That script downloads the latest Linux version of Firefox:

wget "http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/${application}/releases/latest/linux-i686/${language}/${file}"

http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/latest/linux-i686/en-US/

Thanks for responding.

Regarding WINE.

I was wondering if there might be security implications by running WINE under UBUNTULiveCD since WINE reads Windows code. Hence, running, say, FF for Windows might not be wise if conducting banking?

The link that you gave which points to Linux-i686 is presumably the FF browser for Linux. I am not familiar with the code i-686, but I 'll take a look at the link.

Best wishes.

A

I have just had a look at the excellent site that you gave (Firefox Releases).

I see that there are both stable and Beta versions available for download.

Do you think it would be unwise to use a Beta version of FF for banking?

I see that the latest stable version is 3.6. The latest Beta version is 4.0b4.

These both seem suitable for a 32 bit machine (i686).

I think that the reference to win32 indicates the FF version for Windows, VISTA, etc.

I don't know what the EUBallot version means.

Best wishes.

Thanks for the help. Much appreciated.

A

It is possible that your bank site doesn't support Firefox 4.0 beta versions, so it may be better to stick to the 3.6.8 version. Also 4.0 is a beta and that means unfinished software with known bugs and limitations and not everything may work as expected.

The EU Ballot version is for Windows users in Europe that now have a choice to choose their own browser and are no longer forced to use IE. You can ignore it as it is a windows version.
See http://opentochoice.org/en/category/browsers/

Thank you.

Can FF for Linux be downloaded and installed via Windows, to be run under UBUNTU. Or can it only be installed under UBUNTU?

I normally run Windows, but have the UBUNTULiveCD.

Thanks

Do you know if these FF browser programmes are portable, that is, that they can be installed on a pendrive, or must they be installed on the HD?

Thanks

You can't install a Linux version of a program while running Windows. You should be able to copy the Firefox tar.bz2 archive to a USB stick on Windows and extract the files and run that copy on Ubuntu.

The only difference with a portable version is that the portable version keeps most data in memory and doesn't use the disk cache to avoid wearing out the USB or SSD drive. If you install Firefox on a CD then you can't write at all to that drive and you need to place the profile folder on a RAM disk.

Thanks for responding.

If the programme is installed to a pendrive and information is stored in memory is this likely to have any security implications for banking.

I see that there is also a file in the directory that gives the pgp signature. Do you know why this file is included.

Thanks.

A

Hi,

Me again.

I take your point about not being able to write to CD-R. But I would expect to able to write to CD-RW. However, I have saved to a pendrive.

I have downloaded the tar.bz2 file and have checked the md5 hash. The hash in the programme is the same as that printer in the hashes directory. I assume that the hashes in the programme are calculated each time the hash compare programme is activated?

I did wonder about hackers however. Suppose a hacker cracked the FF website then substituted there own programme, say FF-Virus, then changed the hash in th hash directory. Presumably, we would think our programme is sound.

I wonder if the problem with hashes is more to do with the possibility of cracking websites?

Best wishes.

A