1.numerous comments have said to move on to 8 or 9 because fc6 is obsolete..I have yet to learn how to download and install simple updated software on my system..but will eventully move on..thanks for the advice.
2.While still on fc6..how to make the upgrade to firefox 2 or version 3 happen...
3.I have downloaded the newer version from firefox's home page.Of course it's in tar.gz for ver 2 or bz2 for version 3..but this is where I am stuck...
4. I go to archive manager...and extract which produces numerous files...which I thought that it will uncompress the original downloaded file and produce a firefox directory....
5. I'll open the terminal and sign on as root and try to follow the general standard procedure..like yum or rpm..and the system can not find the firefox or the directory or the local repo...
6. I have no isea how to break out from this 'box'...
Thanks for any leads.

There should be an install script. You start it from terminal with:

Exactly. Because FC6 is obsolete, that means its unsupported, which means there are no working repos for it, which means you prob won't see an rpm that works for you.
Incidentally, this also means no security updates, so it could be open to exploitation... YHBW

Thanks chrismo01...
1.There are at least 3 upgrade versions since fc6-which would be the simplest and easiest one to upgrade.2.and would the procedure be similar to installing fc6 of which I used burned cds from a vendor.
3.Is there a general process in installing and upgrading softwares that's not from the original core fedora program?
Thanks again.

Personally I'd recommend backing up any personal files, then clean install F8 or F9. They are the only 'current/supported' versions atm.
You can get them free from http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora.

Upgrading in-place is not usually recommended, although I've seen post somewhere on LQ by one guy who reckons he's done it successfully. Try the LQ Search.

Upgrading Fedora on-site is quite common. I have done it myself and obviously there are others who did the same.

When starting from Fedora 6:

You need to download the fedora-release-7-3.noarch.rpm and fedora-release-notes-7.0.0-1.noarch.rpm files, install them with rpm like:
rpm -i fedora-release-7-3.noarch.rpm fedora-release-notes-7.0.0-1.noarch.rpm
and then run
yum upgrade

this of course needs an internet connection

Later on do the same for fedora 8, 9, ... 10 ... etc

Download and burn the LiveCD of F8 or F9 Then try running on your computer if everything goes all right just click on the install to Hard drive icon. then update and install the packages that you need or want. The LiveCD is about700 megs.

What ever you do .DO NOT USE THE EXPERIMENTAL UPGRADE option .To upgrade from 6 to 9 .It will not work.Do a fresh install .
Also i think the software in fedora 6 is to old to run a new firefox 3
fedora 6 dose not meet the system requirements ff3

Thanks John VV.regarding upgrading from fc6 to fc9...I have ordered a copy of fc9 and will attempt to go for a clean install using the new version disks.
Meantime I will continue to use firefox 1.5 and leave the version 2 or 3 alone until I have installed fc9.
Appreciate the clearity of your answers.