Hey everybody, be easy on me now. I'm totally new to Linux. I'm not a total computer idiot, but VERY new to Linux (pretty good at windows and have done some Fortran and Basic programming in the past). I guess I'm on a Bill Gates/Windows revolt and download FC3 and FC4. So far, I have FC3 up and running and am online, etc. I started with FC3 because I read it was probably a little more stable (and I need that!). Anyway her's my (first) situation. When I installed FC3 it came with Thunderbird 0.8. I downloaded 1.07 for Linux, but how do I update to 1.07?? (I use T-bird and Firefox in Windows). If someone can give me some "baby-step" instructions, I'd appreciate it! If I can get T-bird updated, I think I can figure out Firefox. Thanks in advance for any help!

rpm -Uhv thunder*.rpm
rpm -Uhv fire*.rpm

updates the packages.
You should use the actual version of Fedora Core. All programs are more actual, including the kernel.

I downloaded thunderbird-1.0.7.tar.gz, unzipped it and here is what I got:

chrome libldap50.so libsmime3.so mozilla-xremote-client
components libmozjs.so libsoftokn3.chk README.txt
components.ini libnspr4.so libsoftokn3.so res
defaults libnss3.so libssl3.so run-mozilla.sh
extensions libnssckbi.so libxpcom_compat.so thunderbird
greprefs libplc4.so libxpcom.so thunderbird-bin
icons libplds4.so libxpistub.so xpicleanup
init.d libprldap50.so LICENSE.txt

Where do I go from here? Thanks in advance!

What you downloaded is the source code of thunderbird. In order to install the
Program, you would have to compile it (translate the source code into machine code)
and put the binaries in the right places and and and.....

so:
Forget about the *.tar.gz file -it's a tarball.

Use this only if you really, really want to compile Thunderbird from source!!

So about rpms:
RedHatPacketManager - it is a installer similar to setup.exe for windos, that contains
all the files needed for installation.
BUT handle with care. You have to download the right *.rpm for

1. Your distribution (Fedora core 3)
2. Your Processor type (CPU):
there is
i386,i686
and x86_64 those are the new 64 bit cpus
if you are not sure, it is i*68, take the highest if available(i686)
(if it was not, you would be too much of a tech geek not to know this ;-))

There are rpms that contain the sourcecode!! called *.src.rpm or similar.
Do not use them either. Unless you want the source code (?), no you do not!.

So as an example go to
http://rpmseek.com
search for 'thunderbird'
choose Fedora core as your Distribution
choose cpu type (i368 is only available)
scroll down until you see Fedora core 3
choose thunderbird in the highest version available
Make sure that you didnt get the *.src.rpm ;-)

control: the file you should get is called
thunderbird-1.0.7-1.1.fc3 .i386.rpm

I allready saw both of the things you are looking for ;-) .

Download it
Go to the folder where you saved it,
then click once on it (enter your root password) and *tata* you're almost done.

alternatively you can run it from commandline:
Enter:
rpm -Uvh '/wheretherpmis/thunderbird-1.0.7-1.1.fc3 .i386.rpm'

Same for thunderbird


PS:
if you still want to compile the package, look for a file called Install or readme.
You should have installed a compiler(gcc) and some development tools (eg automake) first.

All in all if you want to play, compile it. If you want to use it, take the *.rpm ;-)

Ps: you should consider, that it is much faster to take the rpm to install than to compile
everything on your own.

Have fun!

Great explanation. I REALLY appreciate the help! I guess I'll get there eventually. Thanks again!

i hope you do,

if you are looking for some good tutorials go to the www.tldp.org and perform a search for what you are looking for.
eg rpm gives you the following: http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/RPM-HOWTO/

Perhaps there is even too much information sometimes, but it is not that difficult to handle linux once you can do some basic tasks ;-)

I have never tried the rpm method for thunderbird....partly becasue one of my systems is Ubuntu..

What you download from the Mozilla main page is a **tar.gz file that is absurdly simple to install:
gunzip <filename>
tar -xvf <filename>
open the new folder "thunderbird"

Hit the wrong key before I was finished........sorry

I have never tried the rpm method for thunderbird....partly becasue one of my systems is Ubuntu..

What you download from the Mozilla main page is a **tar.gz file that is absurdly simple to install:
gunzip <filename>
tar -xvf <filename>
open the new folder "thunderbird"
type ./thunderbird

if you are upgrading, it should find the ".thunderbird" file and will open all your previous files

All the above assumes an install in the home directory---ie the "thunderbird" and ".thunderbird" directories are in the same place.

My issue with thunderbird** is that it looks for an older version of libc++.so.5 than is on many distributions. IF this happens, you will need to get libc++, version 3.2.x Any of the rpm sites should have it.

even 1.5rc1 did this---WHY????? Why would they assume that someone wanting to try the very latest would not have the very latest libc++?????

Indeed, i didn't notice that there is a shell script and precompiled binaries in the folder.
Still it is easier to use an rpm as you get the files fitted into your root (folder) structure and you get prearranged the shortcuts.

So it is just a matter of taste, but i stick with the rpms - if there is someone out there who builds a package prearranged for me - why shouldn't i use it?

Ps Ubuntu should have some similar feature - aptget