OK -- the solution offered by Micah Gersten solved the problem
--
Home Page choice not retained after closing Firefox
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/387301
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu.
--
ubuntu-bugs mailing list
ubu
Public bug reported:
If I change my start page away from the default, it works fine until I
close Firefox. When I return, it has been reset to the ubuntu/google
start page
** Affects: firefox (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
--
Home Page choice not retained after closing