I'm trying to download Firefox 3 beta 5 to ubuntu 7.10

There is a great howto at http://www.manast.com/2008/02/10/install-latest-firefox-3-beta-ubuntu-gutsy-gibbon-710/

That help but when i put in apt-get install firefox-3.0 and hit enter this comes up Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (13 Permission denied)
 Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), are you root? what is this

Before running "apt-get install firefox-3.0" close other programs.

it still says he samething

it still says the same thing

Oh, sorry, it must be "sudo apt-get install firefox-3.0".

now it ask or a my password and i try to type it but nothing comes up

Just go ahead and type your password even if you don't see a thing. When you enter your password in the terminal there's no visual feedback (no asterisks), but it's still accepting your password.

now it says Couldn't find package firefox-3.0

Have you added "Unsupported updates" in Software Sources? Try to add "Pre-released updates" too and run "sudo apt-get install firefox-3.0" again.

If it won't work press Alt+F2 and enter:
gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
Add the following line:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-backporters/ubuntu gutsy main
and try "sudo apt-get install firefox-3.0" again.

If you still won't be able to install firefox 3, go to http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html and download the latest beta into your home folder. Open your home folder (Places => Home Folder) and extract the downloaded file (right click on the file and "Extract Here"). Close any Firefox 2 windows and double-click the firefox file inside the firefox folder in your home folder.

And maybe you should make a backup of your firefox profile before installing firefox 3:
1. Run Terminal
2. Enter:
cp -R ~/.mozilla/firefox/ ~/firefox_profile_backup

How do i down load the file into the home folder

Have you tried to solve the problem adding "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-backporters/ubuntu gutsy main" to your sources.list and running "sudo apt-get install firefox-3.0"?

Try to run System =>Administration => Synaptic Package Manager, click Search button and search for "firefox 3".
If you find firefox 3 string right-click it, choose "Mark for Installation" and press Apply button.

To download the file into the home folder just download it to /home/{username}
where {username} is your username (/home/john for example)

Or you can download it to you Desktop, right-click the downloaded file, choose "Extract Here", open the firefox folder and run the firefox file.

Do not forget to make a backup of your firefox profile first.

When i go in into ystem =>Administration => Synaptic Package Manager it says this firefox-3.0-gnome-support:
 Depends: firefox-3.0 but it is not going to be installed
 Depends: xulrunner-1.9-gnome-support but it is not going to be installed

Try to find firefox-3.0 string in Synaptic and choose it for installation.