Installing Firefox 3.6 into Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic)

If you are like me and constantly want the latest version of everything in your Ubuntu installation, you will most probably want to install Firefox 3.6 into your Ubuntu installation. You first have the add in the Mozilla Team's firefox-stable repository by typing the following in a terminal shell:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable

Once you have that entry in your source.list file, you will need to update the available installers with the command:

sudo apt-get update

Now you can simply get firefox 3.6 installed with the command:

sudo apt-get install firefox-3.6

Warning, this will remove your current installation of Firefox.

:::::::::::: For older Ubuntu users :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

If you are a Jaunty, Intrepid or Hardy user, you will need to edit the source.list file by typing the following into the terminal shell:

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

You then need to add in the following two lines at the end of the file:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/firefox-stable/ubuntu BUILDNAME main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/firefox-stable/ubuntu BUILDNAME main

Remember to replace the name BUILDNAME, with jaunty, intrepid or hardy (depending on which version of Ubuntu you have installed).

You will then need to import the correct public key so that Ubuntu will trust the repository. To do that, please read my earlier post on Getting the public key of a Ubuntu repository.

Again, once you have done the above, you will need to issue the command for Ubuntu to update and install the repository data and install Firefox 3.6:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install firefox-3.6

You now have Firefox 3.6 installed. :)

Installing Websecurify 0.4...

Websecurify is a web application testing tool developed by Petko Petkov that automatically identifies web application vulnerabilities by using advanced discovery and fuzzing technologies. To know more about Websecurify, click on the link here.

For Ubuntu 8.10 (or older) users (others can skip to the Websecurify Installation section below)

Before installing Websecurify on your Ubuntu system, you will need to have xulrunner v1.9.1 (or higher) installed. Since your installation of Ubuntu has an older version of xulrunner, you will need to update your system to meet this pre-requisite. The easiest way to do this is by installing Firefox 3.5 which come with the required version xulrunner.

The easiest/safest way to do this is to go to the "ubuntu-mozilla-daily" PPA archive at URL:

https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-mozilla-daily/+archive/ppa

Follow the instruction there to get your version of Ubuntu installed with the correct repository that holds the version on firefox 3.5 compatible with your Ubuntu installation. Remember to also install the public key to you don't get prompted with security warnings when trying to use the repository.

Then, we update the machine's repository database with:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

To install Firefox 3.5 (warning, this will replace older versions of firefox in your Ubuntu machine):

sudo apt-get install firefox-3.5

Websecurify Installation

Download the Linux version at URL http://websecurify.googlecode.com/files/Websecurify%200.4.tgz (download the file to your Desktop)

Create a folder to store the websecurify application:

mkdir ~/websecurify-0.4

Go into the folder you just created:

cd ~/websecurify-0.4

Extract the archive:

tar -zxvvf ~/Desktop/Websecurify\ 0.4.tgz

To install the application, type:

xulrunner --install-app application.ini

To launch Websecurify, type:

xulrunner --app application.ini

Note: For Ubuntu 8.10 (or older) users, you must type in xulrunner-1.9.1 instead of xulrunner to install and to launch Websecurify.

Making the Firefox browser special

Let's face it, a web browser, is a web browser, is a web browser. Every operating system has at least two web browsers that users can choose to use. The difference between most browsers with Firefox is the fact that Firefox has add-ons which basically extends the functionality of the browser. I am sure that this is nothing new to most seasonal Ubuntu users, but most users new to Firefox do not realise that they can expand the functionality. This blog shows users (not in the know) how to find and add these add-ons and what are my favourite personal add-ons which you may or may not find useful.

Adding the add-ons

Launch Firefox and go to Tools -> Add-ons and the "Add-ons" windows will appear. You then go to the "Get Add-ons" tab and you can then find any and every add-on that was ever made for Firefox that Mozilla has tested and deemed safe for users to use. There are sites that offer the add-ons directly. However, getting them directly from Mozilla is a safe bet as they have been tested to work correctly "as advertised".

The best way to know what add-ons you want is to simply use the browser and ask yourself what improvements you would like to see to Firefox. Once you know what you want, simply figure out what keyword would best describe the feature you want and query in the "Get Add-ons" tab. The query result will display all add-ons that fit the search query and will then display a short description of what the add-on does. If the description fits what you want, you are then given the opportunity to install the add-on. You can also check the "Extension" tab to see what add-ons you have installed. You can also configure the behaviour of the extension to better fit your needs.

Extension/Add-ons that I use

The list below are the extensions that I use. It is in no way an endorsement to the following add-on authors but it is a list of add-ons that I use that I find useful and convenient. They are:

• Ad Block Plus
• Download Statusbar
• PageZoom
• QuickJava
• Server Spy
• ShowIP
• SwitchProxy Tool

To know what these tools do, may I suggest you query them in the "Get Add-ons" tab and have a read yourself.