Installing Web browser plugins

Since many Web sites make use of Java and Flash, it is important to get them working with your Linux Web browser. These instructions were written for Mozilla Firefox 1.0 on Fedora Core 3 systems.

Java plugin

The following instructions were used to install the Java 1.5.0 plugin for Mozilla Firefox on Fedora Core 3.

1. Visit the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition 5.0 (J2SE) Web site: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.jsp. Click on Download JRE, accept the license agreement, and choose Linux RPM in self-extracting file format.

<>2. As the root user, extract and install the RPM.
sh ./jre-1_5_0_01-linux-i586-rpm.bin

<>3. As the root user, create a symbolic link to the Java virtual machine in your Mozilla Firefox plugins directory.
ln -s /usr/java/jre1.5.0_01/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so /usr/lib/firefox-1.0/plugins

4. Confirm that the plugin is successfully installed by typing about:plugins in the URL dialog box.

Flash plugin

1. Create the /etc/yum.repos.d/flash.repo file:

<># Semi-official Macromedia repository containing the flash-plugin rpm.
[flash]
name=macromedia.mplug.org - Flash Plugin
baseurl=http://macromedia.mplug.org/apt/fedora/$releasever
http://sluglug.ucsc.edu/macromedia/apt/fedora/$releasever
http://ruslug.rutgers.edu/macromedia/apt/fedora/$releasever
http://macromedia.rediris.es/apt/fedora/$releasever
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1

2. Install the flash-plugin using yum.
yum install flash-plugin

3. Confirm that the plugin is successfully installed by typing about:plugins in the URL dialog box.

More information is available at The Unofficial Fedora FAQ.

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