How to update Firefox to the latest version 3.6.6

The latest version of Firefox, the favorite browser of many linuxers, has not yet been updated in the Ubuntu repositories. Generally, this takes a while. I understand that as of Ubuntu Maverick this is going to change and minor Firefox updates (like this one) are going to be available through the repositories. For now, you'll have to settle for adding the Mozilla Security PPA to stay current. 🙂

Recall that in version 3.6.4 an anti-crash system was introduced that makes plugins run in independent processes so that when a plugin fails (typically, flash or java) it does not end up hanging the entire browser or even our system operational.

Version 3.6.6, which came out just after 3.6.4, solves a crash protection stability problem, increasing the time the browser waits for the plugin to respond (they changed it from 10 to 45 seconds). Apparently, some users, especially those who use "old" compus, found that period of 10 seconds too short, especially when loading online games, and other "heavy" applications (which is quite common today with the advent of "the cloud."

From a terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa: ubuntu-mozilla-security / ppa
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade