Upgrading to FlexBuilder Linux Alpha 3 on Ubuntu 7.10 after Flexbuilder Alpha 2 expires

This post is probably a month overdue but I've been working on a Mac OSX workstation for the last month ( my Dad has a nice new Mac so while he was on vacation I used his computer ). Anyway, my dad came back so I moved back to my trusty Ubuntu workstation at my own desk. To my surprise the Alpha version of the Adobe Flex Builder Linux had expired. I have licensed copies for Flex Builder for both Windows and Mac but there is no release for Linux yet so I'm left using alpha versions.

The good news is that if your copy of Flex Builder Alpha 2 has expired (which I think everyone's did on March 15th) all you need to do is uninstall Flex Builder Alpha 2 and install Flex Builder Alpha 3. There are some new requirements however which makes this process a little more complicated if you're running Ubuntu. Mainly, Flex Builder Alpha 3 requires Eclipse 3.3 and the version of Eclipse which can be installed from Ubuntu repository is only version 3.2

So here are the steps you need to follow if you want to get Flex Builder Alpha 3 installed on Ubuntu after Flex Builder Alpha 2 has expired. Instead of writing a full howto I'm going to link you to the different blogs/pages which have the instructions you'll need.

1. (Optional) If you haven't already upgraded to Ubuntu 7.10 now would be a good time. I was running Fiesty Fawn (which is 7.04 I think). View this link to get that done.
   
   
2. Next you need to install Eclipse 3.3 on your system. Follow the instructions at this link but be insure to install 3.3 to a different location than 3.2. After you have 3.3 running you can copy the contents to the eclipse folder to the location where you have 3.2 installed. Mine was located at ~/.eclipse
   
   
3. Before installing Flex Builder Alpha 3 you'll need to uninstall Flex Builder Alpha 2. To do this you need to run the script Uninstall_Adobe_Flex_Builder_Linux. This will be located in the directory Uninstall Adobe_Flex_Builder_Linux which in turn exists in the Flex Builder Linux installation directory. For full details see the Uninstall section of the release notes for alpha 3.
   
   
4. Download Flex Builder Alpha 3
   
   
5. Open your terminal and run the downloaded .bin file. For me I typed the following.
   

   cd /home/ryan/Desktop
   sh flexbuilder_linux_install_a3_033108.bin

   Follow the onscreen instructions.
   
   
6. When finished you should be able to fire up Alpha 3. You may find that you get an error when opening older project files saying that the file is out of sync. Just right-click on the project and select the 'Refresh' option.
   
   
7. If you need to add a launcher for the Flex Builder Alpha 3 program, the default location of the command to launch the program is
   

   /home/ryan/Adobe_Flex_Builder_Linux/Adobe_Flex_builder.sh

   Assuming of course that you're user name is 'ryan' like mine is.