Sorry,
risking to offend you, but assuming your 'locate firefox' output was accurate (so you had preceded it with an updatedb (AFTER you 'installed' firefox), or you system did this for you since you got the firefox package.

Is it possible you actually DIDN'T install firefox?
Let me clarify:
Is it possible you
- browse to the mozilla website,
- download th mozilla-firefox browser package for linux
- period.

If this is the case, I'd suggest the following complementary actions, based upon your locate-output.

- open an x-terminal (or a konsole, as you wish) (dependable on your X-environment )
- change directory to /home/ted/Desktop/ (command "cd /home/ted/Desktop")
- unpack the firefox archive (command "cat firefox-1.0PR-i686-linux-gtk2+xft-installer.tar.gz | gunzip -c | tar xvf -")
- change to directory firefox-installer (command "cd firefox-installer")
- execute the installer-program. (This could be expected (desirable) to be done as root: command "xhost +localhost; su -c ./firefox-installer". This command (the "su"-part) then will require you to type the root-password of your system, which will NOT appear on the console.)
- (click Forward)
- (first read the Mozilla Public License (right!), then click Accept)
- select a "acceptable" target directory for the installation (click "Change...")
- fill in the "Selection-field" something like "/usr/local/firefox-1.0" and click "OK")
- click Forward
- click Install
- (Then a browser window should appear on your display, which you can close for now.)
- Now put a link from within your current path to the firefox executable: (command "su -c 'ln -s /usr/local/firefox-1.0/firefox /usr/bin/firefox'")

Now hope if I was correct in my presumptions, This summary will have helped.

grts.

Dude,

Don't give up so easily. Move to a distro like SuSE, its far more intuitive and is point and click.

Not quite given up yet! just clean installed Mandrake 10 and have a fresh copy of firefox sitting on the desktop " firefox-1.0PR-i686-linux-gtk2+xft-installer.tar.gz" Would somebody please tell me "slowly" how to install and then use it.
I really would be very grateful.

I had lots of issues with Mandrake, now I'm using SuSE and mmmmm

Okay, so you've got your gzipped tarball. Extract the folder and there should be a firefox-installer binary. Running it should install Firefox for you. Then create a symlink to the firefox start script (NOT firefox-bin, the program binary). You can do this in KDE just by right-clicking on the desktop and choosing New > Link to Program (or some wording like that, I'm in Zoology class on XP, not SuSE.) Firefox should Just Work(tm); it's definitely one of the easier proggies to get running.

Good luck! Don't give up hope; the latest iterations of Linux are the first ones I've found truly usable.

What sound card are you running?

Installed firefox as per gloriant's instructions and all worked well up until "Now put a link from within your current path to the firefox executable: (command "su -c 'ln -s /usr/local/firefox-1.0/firefox /usr/bin/firefox'")" Haven't got any idea what that means?

Seth Kinast says
right-clicking on the desktop and choosing New > Link to Program (or some wording like that, I'm in Zoology class on XP, not SuSE.) Firefox should Just Work(tm); it's definitely one of the easier proggies to get running.

Back to square one HELP!!!

Right! Here we go. Managed to actually get firefox running (Trumpet Fanfare). After "many" command line attempts i find that logged on as root (don't know yet if i need to be) /usr/local/firefox-1.0/firefox does the trick, Great! Even managed to set up a desktop link to application.
I'll try the same with Thunderbird next.
Many many thanks to all again for your patience and knowledge.
Bye for now but rest assured "i'll be back"

A small hint, ... because you said you were not sure if you had to be root to do something specific...

As a general rule you can say, you have to be root for everything that happens outside of your users home-directory.

with suse 9.0, you can install firefox with YaST. open a console and type yast

You shouldn't even do that.
It's actually pretty nice, EVEN AS NON-ROOT !!!

A: Press Alt + F2
1. Press the Alt button and hold it down.
2. Press the F2-button
3. Release button Alt and button F2.
4. While pressing the F2-button in step A.2. (above), A window will have appeared with a title like "Run Command - KDesktop"

B. Select the fill-in field in the window "Run Command - KDesktop" by clicking with the mouse-cursor in the field to the right of the "Command:" field indication.

C. Type the command "yast" in that field

D. Click on "OK" button

E. If you are root, Yast will be launched, which "should" be self-explanatory. If however you are NOT ROOT, you are presented with a new window stating something like
The action you requested needs root privileges. Please enter ROOT's password below and click ok. In the latter case, entering the root-password will launch yast in superuse-modus which corresponds to running it as root .

And it can still be easier, Click on the button with the cameleion-head in your pannel (bottom of screen, equivalent to "Start-button" in Windows (aargh).
Select item "System" in the menu, and then the selection "Yast".
Then continue with step E (see higher).

good luck, and weekend.

But be aware! There is now "yast" key on your keyboard. You have to type the keys seperatly as the order they appear from left to right :-)

Sorry.... just couldn't resist to :-)

Nice weekend everybody!

There was a quote that Mr. Mason (my friend's Cisco teacher) said that I'll never forget.

"I love linux. But with Linux, you have to think. With Windows, you just do. Less think more do!"

I hope you'll come back to linux soon, try dualbooting and going into linux now and then. You'll learn to love it if you get the hang of it, I promise

Good Luck!

edit: whoops, there was two pages