How to update Firefox, read .doc files? (Solved)

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Marble42 · #1 Post by **Marble42** » Sun 20 Jul 2014, 14:08

Hi guys,

I need a small and mobile OS that has the following two things:
1. Up-to-date version of FireFox (so I can Sync to my account)
2. Text reader/writer that has no problem reading .doc files.

Tried my luck with Puppy Linux yesterday (first ever Linux try). The FireFox version on it is 17.00 (So pretty old. Unable to Sync). When I try to update it, it states "up to date", which obviously isn't true.

I tried downloading the official Linux version but couldn't install it. I click on the file (was it .slf format? Something like that?), but nothing happens.

Also the text reader doesn't recognize empty lines in pre-made .doc files. It groups the text together and reports errors in files with links in them.

The email client also isn't up do date.

I'm curious why those programs aren't updated if the current version of the OS was published very recently? Also can someone give me a link on how to fix things mentioned above (since I am a noob and don't have a clue where to start searching).

dk60902 · #2 Post by **dk60902** » Sun 20 Jul 2014, 14:19

I have Lucid 5.2.8.005, downloaded Firefox through quickpet. I updated FF by clicking Help - About FF, which will update.

Abiword, which is baked into Puppy, can handle .doc.

Semme · #3 Post by **Semme** » Sun 20 Jul 2014, 14:45

Welcome to Pup mate!

As for FF's Extended Support Release, dwnld the latest, delete your /usr/lib/firefox directory.

Then simply click and *extract* the entire shebang to the same >> /usr/lib.

As for the email client, are you referring to Sylpheed?

You could run the latest Thunderbird, it's portable.

Marble42 · #4 Post by **Marble42** » Sun 20 Jul 2014, 18:15

@dk60902, clicking on Help - About FF didn't help me. It said the browser was up to date and it obviously wasn't.

@Semme, will definitely try it out. Still a little bit confused as to how Linux works, but hopefully I will get passed that soon.

Thanks for the tips guys! I appreciate it! (-:

Semme · #5 Post by **Semme** » Mon 21 Jul 2014, 01:01

Yeah, FF shouldn't take more than a minute to update. Were you able to make it happen?

bigpup · #6 Post by **bigpup** » Mon 21 Jul 2014, 02:58

Text reader/writer that has no problem reading .doc files.

Libreoffice is the best hope to give you the best results. That is until Microsoft changes how .doc files work.

Lucid Puppy 5.2.8.6 has several versions with Libreoffice pre-installed.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=90461

No operating system will have the latest version of Firefox. That thing changes weekly. All you can do is constantly update.

Sounds like you are using Slacko 5.7 that uses the Firefox ESR which is special version of Firefox for companies to use. It will not update by internal update.

The suggestion by Semme is how you have to update it.

You can find newer versions in the Puppy Package Manager in Slacko 5.7.

With Lucid Puppy you can install the Firefox for consumers and update using the internal update.
Use Quickpet->Internet to choose a version of Firefox to start with.

Yes, being new to Linux you do have to learn the Linux/Puppy way of doing things.

Basic info on installing additional programs:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=59597

Marble42 · #7 Post by **Marble42** » Mon 21 Jul 2014, 12:14

Last night I tried installing Precise version instead of Slacko. It didn't have FF at all. It has SeaMonkey instead. For some reason it had trouble opening websites (wired ADSL connection, instant find). It opens Google, finds a match but can't open the website.

Tried installing FF from that package menu (Ubuntu), but the operation failed, so I got disappointed, again. It just isn't intuitive, straightforward...

The tricky part with FF is that they completely changed how Sync works in their latest version. It seems logical to me that if a new version of OS is published all the software should be updated to fit that date. Of course the problem with Slacko is what "bigpup" mentioned:
"Sounds like you are using Slacko 5.7 that uses the Firefox ESR which is special version of Firefox for companies to use. It will not update by internal update."

@bigpup, is Lucid Puppy 5.2.8.6 a secure OS? I read how new Ubuntu based OS have support until 2017. Does that also go with Puppy? Or are all Puppy versions secure, no matter if they are older editions like Lucid, or newer ones like Precise?

Is there a Puppy version with Sylpheed, Libre Office and FireFox where all 3 programs can be updated from the software, hustle-free? Those 3 programs are everything I need (and maybe, just maybe a solid pdf reader).

I was really excited when I learned that Puppy can run from RAM. It basically means I can carry my OS in a pocket, which is amazing, a true eye opener... On the other hand, not being able to have the above mentioned requirements really turned the taste from sweet to sour :/

Barkin · #8 Post by **Barkin** » Mon 21 Jul 2014, 14:45

Semme wrote: ... As for FF's Extended Support Release, dwnld the latest, delete your /usr/lib/firefox directory.

Then simply click and *extract* the entire shebang to the same >> /usr/lib

Thanks for that tip : it was an easier way to go back from FF30 to FF25.6ESR.

FF30 on Windows was causing me problems , so I now have FF25.6ESR on both Windows and Puppy Linux (for consistency).

Semme · #9 Post by **Semme** » Mon 21 Jul 2014, 23:29

Barkin, yes --it IS that.. well.. you know.

==

As for FF, you can run any version you want. It's as easy as I've described.

You click the dwnld >> XArchive opens >> hit "extract" >> OK "all" >> hit "choose" and navigate to /usr/lib.

Really, it's not complicated --just a different way of doing things.

bigpup · #10 Post by **bigpup** » Tue 22 Jul 2014, 01:56

@bigpup, is Lucid Puppy 5.2.8.6 a secure OS? I read how new Ubuntu based OS have support until 2017. Does that also go with Puppy? Or are all Puppy versions secure, no matter if they are older editions like Lucid, or newer ones like Precise?

What you read about Ubuntu is about Ubuntu, not Puppy.
With Puppy a new version comes out when someone wants to make one.
For the most part all Puppy versions keep being supported.

With Puppy it is more about what version works on your hardware, not what is the latest version.

The biggest thing driving development of a newer Puppy version is support for newer hardware.
After that it is improvements to Puppy and maybe a new way to do things.

With Puppy:
if it is not broken do not fix it.
Found a new way to do something. Code it up and lets try it out.

There are some bug fixes or improvements. Usually the newer Puppy versions have them.
No real control on when this happens.

People work on Puppy when they want to and how they want to, as a hobby. No pay.

Puppy and security.
Look in the forums security section for information and discussion.

bigpup · #11 Post by **bigpup** » Tue 22 Jul 2014, 02:15

Marble42,

Slacko 5.7 and getting the latest version of the consumer version of Firefox.

The Puppy Package Manager has Firefox 27.0.1-i686 in the puppy-slacko14 repository under internet.
install it.
Start Firefox
It may automatically check for update
If not.
help->about firefox->check for updates

I just did this in Slacko 5.7 and now I am posting using Firefox updated to Version 30.

For your other required programs. Follow the info I posted earlier about installing programs.

bigpup · #12 Post by **bigpup** » Tue 22 Jul 2014, 02:52

LibreOffice you can get here:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=85915

Marble42 · #13 Post by **Marble42** » Tue 22 Jul 2014, 05:22

Thanks a lot @bigpup and @Semme. I really appreciate your help! Dealing with extreme newbies such as myself probably isn't easy, so once again, thank you!

Will try it out and will report back if I have any issues (hopefully not since it was explained in such a nice manner).

neerajkolte · #14 Post by **neerajkolte** » Tue 22 Jul 2014, 10:39

If you don't mind 64bit distro I would like to suggest Fatdog64-631.

I am a noob, but I am using it for 4 months with no problems at all.
It has Firefox29 in it, and Libreoffice is also available as an .sfs.

Also Fatdog64-700 is in pipeline, which will contain latest Firefox.

Give it a try.

Thanks

- Neeraj

Marble42 · #15 Post by **Marble42** » Tue 22 Jul 2014, 17:50

@bigpup,

Your solution worked like a charm! I am now writing to you via Slacko, FireFox Version 31.0

I also figured out why I wasn't able to install anything on Precise: it wasn't connect to the Internet. :/ I figured wired connection is made automatically. That was silly of me. When the same happened now I knew something was wrong. After connecting I went to the Slacko14 repository and had to choose the option to show "Any Type" of apps (it was set to GUI only, without FF).

All in all, this worked like a charm! Thank you ever so kindly for the assistance! (-:

One think I find odd though is that the letters in the browser seem much smaller than on windows. The message I am typing now. Everything seems smaller. Any way I can change that?

Barkin · #16 Post by **Barkin** » Tue 22 Jul 2014, 18:10

Marble42 wrote:... the letters in the browser seem much smaller than on windows. The message I am typing now. Everything seems smaller. Any way I can change that?

In FireFox "Options" , go to "Content" to select the size and type of font.

[ You may have to click on the "Advanced" button in "Content" to get the font you want ]

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/change-fonts-and-colors-websites-use

bigpup · #17 Post by **bigpup** » Tue 22 Jul 2014, 23:50

Also in Firefox preferences->Content->Fonts & Colors-> advanced there is a minimum font size you can adjust.

That will only let a font be as small as you set this.

Do have to play with it to get a size you like, because it does affect all fonts on a web page.

There is a Slacko 6 beta2 version in development, but being beta it is buggy.
A lot of heavy testing going on.
It is mainly going to offer some new features and hopefully improve general operation.
Some code cleaning and tweaking taking place.

Part of using Puppy is also offering to help with development and testing.
Always need testers to point out if something does not work.

No pressure to do so.

Just to let you know about it.
Puppy can always use more help.

You can see how it is going here:
Slacko 6.0 Beta2
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=94328

neerajkolte · #18 Post by **neerajkolte** » Wed 23 Jul 2014, 03:54

Hi Marble42,

You could also do one thing....

when in a webpage in Firefox...

Hold down "Ctrl" key and move mouse wheel up or down to set how big the font you want.

Thanks.

- Neeraj

Marble42 · #19 Post by **Marble42** » Wed 23 Jul 2014, 08:53

Wow guys! I'm really impressed with how helpful this community is. Thank you for the great tips! All of you! (-:

I also really like Puppy Linux. Been playing with it for several hours last night and am now seriously considering using it as a primary OS. Still a few things to figure out, but getting there.

Will give Slacko 6.0Beta a go soon. Will install it on a different SD card so I don't mess this one up.

Now here are a couple of questions.
1.) I have an old laptop (IBM Think Pad). Pentium 3, 1333mhz, I think it has 512Mb Ram, 30GB HDD. The HDD has a single partition (Disc C) and XP is intalled on it. I would like to use Slacko as my primary OS. Install it on the HDD.

Keeping XP seems pretty much useless now. The machine works poorly on it and it is not even updated. It runs great on Puppy.

When I tried to install it, I got the option to partition the HDD. It mentioned how it was best to partition it using ex2 (or something like that), and it is currently partitioned as FAT32 (XP). All in all I aborted the operation until I get my facts straight.

I don't think I need XP any more. What do I do? How do I completely remove XP and install a permanent version of Puppy?

2.) I updated FF, installed LibreOffice, made wanted settings... Everything is pretty much like I want it to be. Can I now burn Puppy with the current settings to a cd/dvd? Just to have a backup (mainly because my other laptop, Qosmio Q10 can't be booted via USB for some reason)?

cthisbear · #20 Post by **cthisbear** » Wed 23 Jul 2014, 09:37

" I don't think I need XP any more.
What do I do?
How do I completely remove XP and install a permanent version of Puppy? "

""""""""""'

Whoa! Slow down there mate.

Keep Windows...enjoy Puppy.

Never get rid of Windows.
Back up your pics, docs, data etc.

Clean it up...startups etc. ...Temp files etc.
Ccleaner can do both.

Uncheck System Restore etc...dramatic improvement in speed.

But keep it for that one time when you need to boot up.

Discretion is always better than valour..with Windows.

Cheers....Chris.

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How to update Firefox, read .doc files? (Solved)

How to update Firefox, read .doc files? (Solved)