Install Firefox Aurora on Ubuntu 11.04

My Mandriva 2010.2 system is still running Firefox 3.6.17, and that is with all updates applied. I have to do something special to run Firefox 4. And Firefox 5 has just released today. When is the latest Firefox coming to Mandriva?

If you are running a recent distribution release, say, Ubuntu 11.04 or Linux Mint 11, you are likely running Firefox 4. But what if you want to run the bleeding edge version (of Firefox), that is the Daily Build? It could break something on your computer, but if you have a sense of adventure and don’t mind contributing bug reports to Mozilla, this article will show you how to install Firefox Aurora (that is what the Daily Build is called) on Ubuntu 11.04. The same steps applies to installing it on Linux Mint 11 or any other Ubuntu-based distribution.

Note: With Firefox 5 out of the gate, Firefox Aurora is what will become Firefox 6, or Firefox 6 beta, so expect that some or all of your add-ons might not be compatible with Aurora.

These are the steps involved:

1. Add the Daily Build repository to /etc/apt/sources.list by typing the following command on a shell terminal:
   
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily/firefox-aurora

2. Update the package database with:
   sudo apt-get update
3. Finally, use the Software Center to install the latest version, or use the following command to install it from a terminal:
   sudo apt-get install firefox

   Somewhere in the process, you will get this warning about add-on incompatibilities. It’s doubtful that any of your add-ons will have Aurora versions, but that is the cost of living on the (bleeding) edge.
   

That should do it. Your version of Firefox will always be the latest and greatest, with the attendant headache(s). You might be interested in reading Ubuntu 11.04 review and Linux Mint 11 review.