Use mutiple versions of Firefox on Ubuntu 11.04 at a time

Recently, I had been facing some issues regarding the firefox crashing very frequently. I have finally figured out a way to downgrade the firefox browser to any lower version inorder to get rid of this crashing problem. This is really very simple but it just needed to be figured out.

1. First of all, you need to download the package for the version you want to install. You can get it from anywhere on the internet. I found out this official location for all mozilla releases http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/

2. Download the version that you need and that supports the architecture of our current FAI of Ubuntu 11.04-32 bit.

3. I tried this for Firefox-3.6. What you get from this link is a tar.bz2 file which needs to be extracted. Extract it and you will get a file named firefox in this extracted folder.This firefox file is a self executable file, just double click and you are ready to go with firefox version you want.

4. To make things easier for the users, create a launcher on the desktop and convert it into an icon. Here is a screenshot:

 Same way, this can be done for any version you want and it also enables you to use multiple versions of Firefox at any time.

Next Generation OS: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

I am back with the latest information on Ubuntu after I discussed what exactly Ubuntu is in my previous article, Windows attracts Viruses while Ubuntu attracts human beings. Ubuntu, currently on the verge of releasing its next version 11.04 "Oneiric Ocelot" has already scheduled the release of its 16th version of Ubuntu, i.e. Ubuntu 12.04. However, the code name for Ubuntu 12.04 has not been decided yet. Normally, Ubuntu releases are give code names using an adjective and an animal with the same first letter. But one thing is for sure,Canonical will release the Long Term Support version of the OS, this makes it Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.
Ubuntu releases are timed to be approximately one month after GNOME releases, which are in turn about one month after releases of X.Org, resulting in each Ubuntu release including a newer version of GNOME and X.

To date every fourth release, in the second quarter of even-numbered years, has been designated as a Long Term Support (LTS) release, indicating that it has updates for three years for desktop use and five years for server, with paid technical support also available from Canonical Ltd.Till now, releases 6.06, 8.04, and 10.04 are the LTS releases. Now its 12.04 that will be the next LTS release.
According to Ubuntu developers, the Ubuntu 12.04 has a new release schedule. There will be two Alpha versions, two Beta versions, then there will be a release of the Release Candidate version and finally the complete version will be released.

The schedule of the release of Ubuntu 12.04 with exact date as proposed by Canonical is as follows:

Windows attracts Viruses while Ubuntu attracts human beings

"Windows attracts Viruses while Ubuntu attracts human beings".

I have been using windows ever since I saw my first computer. Operating system to a computer is like a soul to a human being. OS is the interpreter between us and the computer hardware. There are a lots of OS in the market that are popularly used like solaris, Linux, windows, mac, etc. I have used almost all kinds of OS available in the market worldwide. There was a time when I wouldn't use anything except windows like any other normal human out there. Then a time came when I would use mac all the time. Now, for the last one year, I have been using Ubuntu, a flavor of Linux. Ubuntu is an open source OS capable of doing anything you make it do. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu ("humanity towards others").

I have tried using each and every version of Ubuntu, every version obviously gets better and less buggy than the earlier. Each version has some flaws and every upcoming version removes the earlier flaws. The basic algorithms behind the screen in Ubuntu always go the same way as they are in windows.  But, if you are into digging the basics, you really should switch to Ubuntu. If you think you can't ever use Linux without knowing the commands, then you are wrong. Ubuntu is almost as user friendly as windows or any other OS. You should definitely give it a try. In comparison to other Linux flavors, there is one thing I like most about Ubuntu, it has a very simple command line interface called BASH, which operates on very simple commands, much simpler than the DOS prompt in windows. You won't believe, when I first started using Linux, it had been just a month and I was already using the basic commands. When you see things happening and giving results in front of your eyes, you really love it.

Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian GNU/Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software.Yes, exactly, free of cost. You don't have to pay for any version of Ubuntu or its license. It is absolutely free and widely available over the Internet for free downloading. You can download any version officially from the Ubuntu home page, www.ubuntu.com. Now, you must have started thinking about the compatibility of softwares with this OS that you had been using with windows. Almost all softwares being used in windows are readily or alternatively available for Ubuntu through the Ubuntu repositories or other third party repositories. While, some of the softwares which are still unavailable for Ubuntu are under development. The canonical group and other open source societies have been continuously working for making it more and more attractive for every other technical or non technical human being out there. For the unavailable under development softwares, there are applications that provide a cross platform of windows on Ubuntu. Some of these include crossover, playonlinux, citrix client and so on. This is where you stop paying for windows license, and if you are using the pirated copy, you don't need to be against the law anymore. Let me share an incident I came across a few days earlier related to piracy, there is this friend of mine who runs a small IT company. He had some windows running PCs setup in his company. Some of his PCs had pirated windows on them. MS people raided his company and he was charged with a heavy fine for piracy.

The most awesome feature of Ubuntu is “no virus attack at all”. The moment you start using Ubuntu, you get rid of all those PC cracking viruses, malwares and every other wares out there on the net. Your PC becomes as secure as windows can ever be ideally. If you are using windows, and having an Internet connection on your PC, you should have a proper anti-virus installed in order to keep your data safe and prevent your PC from getting hacked. This is where you pay again for the a genuine copy of anti-virus. And if you don't pay for it, you are going against the law using the pirated copy. Now, its time for you to change your OS and rise up with Ubuntu. This is one of the main reasons that defense sectors, IT giants and other government organizations are rapidly migrating from windows to Ubuntu. It has file systems totally different and more secure than windows, i.e. ext3, ext4, that don't offer any kind of security flaws for external anti OS agents.

All these features make this OS so popular. Ubuntu holds an estimated global usage of more than 12 million desktop users, making it the most popular desktop Linux distribution with about 50% of Linux desktop market share. It is fourth most popular on web servers, and its popularity is increasing rapidly. Canonical releases new versions of Ubuntu every six months with commitment to support each release for eighteen months by providing security fixes, patches to critical bugs and minor updates to programs. It was decided that every fourth release, issued on a two-year basis, would receive long-term support (LTS). LTS releases are supported for three years on the desktop and five years on the server.

The latest LTS release is Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx), released on 29 April 2010, while the latest normal release is Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot), released on 4 August 2011.

You must be thinking if Ubuntu is a free OS, where does all the fund for development comes from. Well, Ubuntu is currently funded by Canonical Ltd. On 8 July 2005, Mark Shuttleworth and Canonical Ltd. announced the creation of the Ubuntu Foundation and provided an initial funding of US$10 million. The purpose of the foundation is to ensure the support and development for all future versions of Ubuntu. Mark Shuttleworth describes the foundation as an "emergency fund".

I won't go more technical in this article, as I just wanted to provide just an overview of Ubuntu, its basics, and the benefits. So, by just using this OS, you can decrease the expenses you do for your computer.  I am not against Windows but I have just kept my views why I stopped using windows and started using Ubuntu.

This is how it really is.....