Greets from yet another total newbie!! :)
 

Greetings all!
I just installed my new Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 10.
The good thing is that it recognized my Bewan dsl modem easily, allowing me to be here with you! :)
I had a short-lived first experience with Linux (Suse 7.1) about 5 or 6 years ago with a Motorola cable modem. I then moved to DSL and tried several distros several times over the years, but my modem (bewan PCI then) was never recognized, and I certainly had no clue as to how do it with a konsole and command lines, all by my lonesome!!
But now, life is good and here I am able to ask questions.

--Suse 10 came with Firefox 1.5.0.4 installed and I managed (How???) to update it with an RPM of 1.5.0.7. Some progress!!
I then DLed the new FF 2.0.0.1 version as a tar.gz. It now sits on my desktop and I am at a loss as to what to do next.
Same ol' question from a newbie, I gather: what to do to install a tar.gz thingie? Where is the Linux equivalent of "program files" (assuming there is such an equivalent)?
Step by step holding my hand, please!!!;)
Now I realize I'm here in the intro forum, and it's probably not the place where to ask software installation questions, so I hope someone can direct me to the proper place.
Thanks a lot!!!

michel

Hello and welcome to LQ, hope you like it here.

Now I realize I'm here in the intro forum, and it's probably not the place where to ask software installation questions
Good to see you figured that out yourself. I'd say try the Linux Software forum.

Hello, and welcome!

First of all: if you install new software on SuSE that is easily obtainable using SuSE's package manager (which means YaST, the software updater/installer part), use your package manager. After you get used to it, you notice it's the easiest way of installing software -- and keeping it up to date. If you get software in archives rather than SuSE binaries, they won't be automatically updated for you, and you may in the end run into trouble having seventeen different versions of one program overlapping each other just because you didn't take the time to install and upgrade them properly :) and especially if you don't like compiling everything all the time from source, use that package manager tool of YaST.

Now that the "aggressive talk" is over, here are the instructions if you still intend to use the .tar.gz version (it's ok in Firefox's case, since it's not source code you're having and it runs pretty easily in some cases).

1) unarchive and -compress the file: probably right-click on it on your desktop and choose to uncompress it under your home directory, for example. Or from command line like we like to do:
('x' stands for eXtract, 'z' for gZip-compressed archive, 'v' for Verbose=show information and 'f' for File -- notice, filename comes directly after '-f')

Now you should have a Firefox directory unarchived and -compressed. Go inside it (maybe use 'cd' if using command line)

2) Try if it just works: launch the 'firefox-bin' file. You may need to make it executable the first time (works from the File Preferences too):
(in case the file was actually firefox-bin.sh -- change if needed)
..and then just
or click on it. Maybe twice if needed. It either runs fine, or then it won't; in the latter case run it from a terminal and you probably get errors of missing libraries. You're not actually missing them -- they are all in the same directory -- but SuSE can't find them in your library directory /usr/lib/ so you have two choices: either symlink them there or copy them there; if this becomes a problem, I suggest don't use this .tar.gz (at least after you've installed one Firefox so that the libs are there), rather use a binary version you get from YaST. It's so much simpler :)

In your other needs first check out YaST, you'll have there a list (or should have I think) of programs you can install. No need to search and download them from internet, no need to search and download their dependencies -- YaST should do that for you -- just click and install. Easier than anything :)

Congrats and welcome. I am not exactly a newbie but I am no that experienced in Linux either as I have been primarily using Windows.

Yes I have.


None of this did anything, and it told me "error while loading shared libraries: libmozjs.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory"


Correct, it is in the new firefox dir, but not usr/lib/.
What is symlink, and it won't paste to usr/lib/



True, it was easy updating 1.5.0.4 to 1.5.0.7 with yast. But there is no 2.0.0.1 to 'yast'

Thanks bOuncer!!

Hi and welcome to LQ :D

Namaste and thanks for your welcome Shrikant!! :)

Michel