siduction distribution - KDE4 desktop - Default browser problem

[Sian Mountbatten <poenikatu@fastmail.co.uk>]

When I clicked on an http link in an email message in icedove, firefox 
was started and the link appeared on a tab.

Then I discovered that my firefox stopped working. Click on firefox: no 
action. So I deleted firefox from the /usr/local tree and deleted 
~/.mozilla in case that was the problem (a duff plugin perhaps).

Then, using elinks, I downloaded firefox version 11.0 from 
www.mozilla.org and installed the contents of the tarball in 
/usr/local/share/firefox. I then put a link to the firefox binary in my 
own binary directory which is on my PATH.

I then clicked on KDE Settings->System Settings->Default Applications
and made sure that firefox was the default browser. Then I logged out in 
case that was needed.

Now, when I click on a link in an email message in icedove, nothing 
happens. No web-browser loaded.

I noticed that /etc/alternatives/www-browser pointed to /usr/bin/elinks. 
So I tried the command
   sudo apt-get purge elinks-lite
but that purged elinks-lite and install konqueror which I definitely do 
not want to use, 'cos I'm happy with firefox.Does clicking on a link now 
load a web browser? No.

How can I get the web-browser loaded when I click on an email message 
link? Anybody any ideas?

Sincerely
--
Sian Mountbatten
ex-Algol 68 specialist