Cannot get update of Firefox to Load/Run

resholto · 09-09-2011, 07:42 PM

Hello
My friend has lent me their Acer Aspire 1 Notebook operating system Linux And then has gone away for a long Holiday. They did not give me the user booklet!
Firefox is version 2 and 2 is not supported. I downloaded version 6 and the Box came up with the option to save or open with. on the line following open with it says
archiver ( Default) When I click okay It says unzip file and when I press yes I get an error message! on veiwing the command line it says cp: /temp/firefox-6.0.2 tar-1.bz2 and firefox-6.0.2 tar-1.bz2 are the same file. I am lost please help.

Thanks Sholto

sgosnell · 09-09-2011, 10:05 PM

Firefox 2 should run, although it's outdated. The error message says that you're trying to copy a file to itself, which won't work. I have no idea which Linux distro you're using, since there are literally dozens of Linux distros available. You may be able to get a pre-packaged version of Firefox, depending on what distro the computer is running. You can find this out by opening a terminal and typing, or pasting,

Code:

cat /etc/*-release

then pressing Enter. If you have a Debian derivative, you need a .deb file, otherwise you probably need a .rpm file. These may be available somewhere. Post the output and we may be able to provide more help.

TobiSGD · 09-10-2011, 03:55 AM

The operating system on that Acers will most likely be Linpus Linux in a very old version. Linpus is a really dumbed down distribution, I wouldn't recommend to use it at all, and I doubt that it is able to run something new like Firefox 6.

sgosnell · 09-10-2011, 09:49 AM

If it's Linpus, give up. It's very old, obsolete, and you almost certainly won't be able to update most packages. Since it belongs to someone else, don't break it, and just live with what is on it.

resholto · 09-18-2011, 07:53 PM

Hi folks thank you for your info.
The details
MFG Date 0807
Linpus Linux Lite v1.0.9E
Total memory 1024 MB
Intel 1 (R) Atom (TM) CPU270 1,6GHz
HDD Hitachi HTS 543219A300
VGA VO 3114
ADA 150 Acer.
If MFG Date means the Manufacturing Date then it is rather old. If that means its a waste of time. Then is there any way I can update It with another version of linux or even with a windows os?. The machine does belong to a friend, but I know she is fed up with it and she might let me mess with it. And it is a nice looking notebook!
Thanks
I am not able to surf every day, so sorry for the delay in replying

etech3 · 09-18-2011, 08:05 PM

You could try a live cd/dvd or maybe try puppy linux that loads into memory.

chrism01 · 09-18-2011, 09:45 PM

As per posts#3 & 4, that really is a hopeless OS.
If(!) your friend allows it, then replace with something modern/better.
Typically Mint or Ubuntu.
Have a look at www.distrowatch.com, but ask permission first(!) before changing the OS.

sgosnell · 09-19-2011, 12:58 AM

First, get a USB drive or SDHC card (the latter is a better option, since nothing sticks out of the machine) and install a liveCD version of any Linux distro on it. Boot it and try it out. All you need for this is a 1GB drive, which you can buy very cheaply. You can also get a larger drive, 16GB is much better, and install the distro of you choice on it. With a full install, you have a full Linux machine on a removable drive, which you can boot on any computer, without affecting the drive inside the netbook, and without pissing off your friend. It might be a little slower than the internal drive, but probably not by much if any.