ASUS EEEPC 900 Linux Xandros 4GB Pearl White
 

I have Firefox 3.6.24 version and when I click on Help/Check for Updates... You do not have permission, so, click here for the latest and it says to download Firefox 8.0 i686 U S English. Do I really need to do that? Why not another version? I know that Mozilla will only keep updating the 3.6 version not that much longer.

Adobe Shockwave Flash Player. I currently have 10.1.r85 and when check "Plugin Check" on Mozilla's website, it says this this version is open to attack and to update. So I click on the Update icon and it says to download SWF 10.3.183.11 So I do this and cannot find and installer for it. It is "other Linux 32 bit tag.bz aka "tarball". However, if I click on another Adobe webpage it says to update to version 11.x.xx.x?????? What gives????

Thanks in advance.

Donald

Welcome to the forums, Donald.

There are two ways to keep a Linux system up-to-date.

First is to go to each application's website and download the latest version. This is how people do it in Windows.

Second is to use an "Update Manager" or "Package Manager" that comes installed with your Linux system. This will update every application at once. Depending on which distribution or "distro" you are using, there will be a slightly different process.

If you want to do it the first way, all you need to know is that a tar.bz or "tarball" is just like a .zip in Windows. You need to open it up with some kind of archive manager and see what's inside. Sometimes there's a README or INSTALL file, with instructions. Other times there is a "binary" file (basically like a .exe in Windows). Most Linux distros include some kind of archive manager so you just double-click on the file icon to extract or "un-tar" what's inside. (If you prefer to do it the geeky way then type "man tar" in the Terminal.) I think Firefox is shipped as a binary, which means you can open the extracted folder in your file manager, right-click on the 'firefox' file and choose, Properties, Permissions, Allow executing file as program. Then right-click, Run.

If you prefer to do it the second way (my recommendation!) then please tell us which distro (Ubuntu, Fedora, Slackware, etc.) you're using and we'll take it from there.

snowpine I got as far as the Permissions but did not find "allow execute file as program"??? I did a screen capture of what I found and have attached it. What come next??? Thanks again for your help.

Donald

to update a firefox version shipped with your distro usually you heed to do that as root: so if you really want to update it, login as root, launch firefox and update it..

alternatively you can download the i686 binaries archive, decompress it into a directory of your choice (under you /home/USER/ETC/ETC) and from that moment you will be able to update firefox with your user.

"Exec" (short for "execute") is checked, so you should be able to run Firefox now. (Usually right-click, Run.)

I'll repeat my offer, if you wish to tell us which distribution you're using, we can give you instructions to upgrade your system properly using your Linux update manager.

Login as root??? I do not understand this. Your second method sounds complicated.

That looks like the original Xandros that came on the eee-pc. It's obsolete and no longer supported, AFAIK. I removed it from my 900 years ago and never looked back. The Xandros repositories don't have, and will never have, a newer version of Firefox or anything else. Any modern distro will run on the 900, but 4GB is pretty limiting. You can buy a newer, larger, SSD, or buy a larger SDHC card and run the OS from that. Continuing to use Xandros will only result in frustration in the long run, because the software gets further out of date as time goes on.

sorry I was not sufficiently clear: for "login as root" I meant not to start to X, but simple open a terminal and from there act as root.. so type and your root password or and type your user password..

^--- Very dangerous advice above. Don't run Firefox as root, because then you give the entire Internet complete administrative control over your computer!

You seem to be having trouble figuring out which distribution or "distro" you're using. Is there a "splash" screen that comes on when you boot the computer that identifies it as Xandros or Ubuntu or Fedora etc? If you can navigate your way to the Terminal you can try the following command:

Yes, I have the original Xandros and it works fine for me. I do have a 16GB SDHC card in the card reader slot and have 9.7GB free. I have a few thousand pics and just a couple dozen files on it. When the card is about full I have a 32GB SDHC card to replace it with and C, C & P the entire memory into the new card. I have about 1.2GB free on the 4GB SSD that care with the netbook.

I appreciate your help.

As far as I know, there are no updates available for Xandros. I recommend replacing Xandros with a currently-supported, lightweight, user-friendly distro like Mint LXDE or Lubuntu.

http://linuxmint.com/
http://lubuntu.net/

I own a 900 with a 4 gig SSD and a secondary 16 gig SSD.

I run AntiX 11 on mine. I kinda disagree about using Lubuntu or Mint on a 4 gig SSD.

My reasoning.

I have the operating system installed to the 4gig SSD and have /home on my 16gig SSD. I keep it updated through terminal with apt-get dist-upgrade on a regular basis.

I jump through hoops trimming and deleting certain directories and files and remove heavy applications I don't use to keep my install on / at about 2.5 gig on the 4gig SSD. I run Icewm and Fluxbox Windows Managers on this. I install certain applications (iron browser,Jitsi) statically in /home also to keep my / drive from filling up also.

I think if the OP goes with a Ubuntu or Mint Distro. His next thread will be I am not able to update because / is full.

If I am wrong. Sorry. If I ever break my install. I will probably install AntiX to the secondary 16gig SSD and just format the 4 gig SSD as ext2 and use it for storage like a pendrive or sd drive. 4gig is a tight spot to run certain distros on. If I had your Netbook. I would probably install Slitaz,Newer Puplets like Snowpup or Macpup or even Puppeeee (which I have uploaded. These Puppies can be ran off of external pendrive or sd card and will save changes via a save file),TinyCore,or AntiX 11 core install and build from scratch.

But since you are Happy with Xandros (I still have the original recovery DVD) just be aware as you have been told, that you will have to compromise as far as updating Browsers, Flash,Java, etc....... because outdated Xandros libraries just can't take the strain. You will have to jump through more hoops than I do, and I am pretty nimble (for a biker).

That is a good point rokytnji about only 4gb SSD space. Puppy, SliTaz, AntiX, CrunchBang are a few of the excellent "lightweight" distros I've tried. Unity, KDE, or Gnome tend to require the most disk space; likewise a distro that ships on a DVD instead of a CD will be a tight squeeze. A fun intermediate project is to try a "minimal install" of your favorite distro, starting with the bare bones and then adding your choice of apps.

One suggestion I can give is to choose Manual partitioning during the install and do not set up a swap partition. This would be a waste of space given your limited resources. With a lightweight distro, no swap partition, and an SD card for extra storage, you can work with 4gb.

Another route the OP can take even. He can keep Xandros. Buy himself a large external class 10 SD flash drive. 16 or 32 gig would be good. I recommmend class 10 because reads and writes are faster. I have gotten good performance though off of the cheapest 8gig SD flash running distros like AntiX and Puppy.

Then Lubuntu or Mint would be viable and Netbook would be a dualbooter via the ESC key. I did this a while ago with AntiX.

http://yatsite.blogspot.com/2009/07/...s-eee-900.html

Running the OS from the SDHC is the best way to go. If the SSD is replaceable, buying a newer, bigger, faster one is ideal, but IIRC the 4GB version has the SSD soldered in place, and it's not replaceable. Just format it and use it for storage. Running the OS from the SDHC will be just about as fast as running it from the slow SSD, and it's cheap enough to replace it. I've run several Linux distros from a 16GB SSD, and it works well enough. It's not like running a quad-core superfast desktop, but that's not news. The 900 isn't the fastest computer available, but it's very portable, and if that's what you have, you can certainly make it usable with a modern Linux distro. Just be careful of Gnome3, that runs like molasses in January at the north pole. XFCE or another lighter desktop runs fine, though.