How To Install Firefox 8.0.1 Manually On Ubuntu 11.10/11.04

After a problem caused by a popular addon, Mozilla has released an new update to its latest stable version: Firefox 8.0.1. This problem causes the browser to crash and sometimes slow down for no reason.

Only users who are using Roboform will have to update.  So, in this guide we will help you install Firefox 8.0.1 on Ubuntu 11.10/11.04 manually because this update is still not available in the official Ubuntu PPA.

Open the Terminal and run this sequence of commands for the 32-bit version of Ubuntu:

cd /tmp
wget ftp://63.245.208.138/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/8.0.1/linux-i686/en-US/firefox-8.0.1.tar.bz2
sudo tar jxvf firefox-8.0.1.tar.bz2 -C /opt

For the 64-bit version of Ubuntu, use these commands:

cd /tmp
wget ftp://63.245.208.138/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/8.0.1/linux-x86_64/en-US/firefox-8.0.1.tar.bz2
sudo tar jxvf firefox-8.0.1.tar.bz2 -C /opt

To start Firefox 8.0.1, use this command:

/opt/firefox/firefox

Screenshot:

You can add a Desktop shortcut to Firefox 8.0.1 by following these steps:

1. Via the terminal run this command:

gnome-desktop-item-edit --create-new ~/Desktop

2. Enter now the following details:

Name: Firefox 8.0.1
Command: /opt/firefox/firefox

Click Ok to create the shortcut.

That's it!