[GRLUG] Taking A Deep Breath

[john-thomas richards]

On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 11:55:38AM -0400, Edward Crawford wrote:
> Hi Folks,
> 
> Thanks for all of your feedback regarding my query on upgrading Firefox. In
> reviewing the responses, it seems that it might help if I define my goals in
> further exploring the Linux platform. I have been developing apps in the
> Windows world for 10 years... mostly Visual Basic & SQL server (I hear the
> moans going up from the crowd :-). I'm currently studying Java & I want to
> set up several PCs, network them, use one as a Tomcat server & work toward
> using open source tools for developing scalable applications (web based). I
> took a couple of C++ courses & have been working on getting my head around
> object oriented languages.
> 
> Needless to say, I'm feeling pretty frustrated with my inability to update a
> program. I'm willing to study what I need to in order to have a solid
> understanding of the Linux platform, but I'm not sure where to start. Any
> links, books, sources & suggestions will be VERY much appreciated.

Hearing you say you're willing to learn is very encouraging and makes it
far more likely for you to find help (rather than simply wanting someone
to do it for you).

The issue with upgrading to Firefox 3 from Firefox 1 is one of
supporting applications.  Firefox, like most programs, cannot run by
itself.  That is, Firefox requires more than a kernel to run.  With such
an old installation of Linux, all of the supporting libraries and
applications that are necessary for a newer version of Firefox are not
installed.  For example, in the latest version of Debian is Firefox
v3.0.6.  One of the required underlying packages is libc6.  Firefox
3.0.6, as it is packaged in Debian, depends on libc6 being greater than
or equal to version 2.7-1.  If you were running an old version of
Debian, the one with Firefox 2.0.0, the version of libc6 would be
2.3.5---not recent enough to run 3.0.6.  You may think one could simply
install a newer version of libc6, but libc6 affects nearly every (all?)
application and/or library installed on the system.  Hence the
recommendation to upgrade the version of SUSE you have installed or
install a more recent version of another Linux distribution.  Updating a
version of an application usually requires a cascading series of
updatings to underlying applications and system libraries.  Since you're
familiar with the Windows world, it's rather like the latest version of
Microsoft Office requiring the latest Service Pack to Windows.
-- 
john-thomas
------
Metaphysics means only an unusually obstinate attempt to think clearly
and consistently.
William James