Installing Firefox 3

[Ironman]

I just downloaded the firefox3.bz2 file from the mozilla website and extracted it to a folder on my desktop on etch. What do I need to do to install this program from here on out? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[EMD]

run the following commands:

$ rm firefox3.tar.bz2
$ iceweasel



Seriously ... As root, extract the tar ball to /usr/local/ and create a link (called ffox3) to it in /usr/local/bin.

# cd /usr/local/
# tar -xjf /home/ironman/firefox3.tar.bz2
# ln -s /usr/local/firefox/firefox /usr/local/bin/ffox3

When you run it, be sure to follow Telemachus' suggestion:

A quick trick: I run both Iceweasel 2.0.0.14 and Firefox 3.5, and if you aren't careful they will screw up each other's profiles and preferences. So create two profiles, and change the startup commands in your menus to look like this:

iceweasel --no-remote -P telemachus
/opt/firefox/firefox --no-remote -P achilles

Your profile names and the location of your Firefox may vary

The -P option allows you to pick the profile you want to use, and the --no-remote option tells the browser not to connect to a "running" Iceweasel or Firefox. That allows you to run both browsers at one time and still keep your preferences clean.

For the record, though, I pretty much never open Iceweasel any more.

Note that Telemachus placed his files in /opt/, whereas I suggest /usr/local/ and give Firefox 3 a different name. Iceweasel runs when you run the firefox command, so I have the ffox3 command run Firefox 3.
.

[b-o]

If you do not use Iceweasel simultaneously, deinstall it and you can add a Ubuntu repository to your /etc/apt/sources.list and install firefox3 via packagemanager. Works great.

But be careful: -Only- install firefox and then remove (or comment out) the repository again. Doing an upgrade with Ubuntu repos will be most likely an "interesting" experience. I did not try this out, though...

Greetings,
b-o

P.S.: Not quite sure if it happened because of the "foreign" repository, but it may be that after using the Ubuntu repository aptitude marks a lot of packages for removal. -Do not- remove them, instead tell aptitude to keep them all:

aptitude keep-all

[EMD]

If you do not use Iceweasel simultaneously, deinstall it and you can add a Ubuntu repository to your /etc/apt/sources.list and install firefox3 via packagemanager. Works great.

Are you crazy? !!! NEVER mix Ubuntu and Debian repositories. If you really want to install Firefox 3 using APT, then get it from Debian's experimental repositories.

Here's what you would do. Add this line to your /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ experimental main

Then run:

# apt-get update
# apt-get install -t experimental iceweasel

Then go back to your sources list, comment out the experimental line and run:

# apt-get update
.

[b-o]

Of course the obvious way would be installing iceweasel. But do understand that for whatever reason some people want firefox instead of iceweasel.

With iceweasel installed, the gecko engine crashed 3 times in 10 minutes. I did not face such issues with the newest firefox, even though they should not be very different.

But this lack of difference is why the Ubuntu repository just works for firefox. And I did not get any trouble with it.

Are you crazy? !!! NEVER mix Ubuntu and Debian repositories.

I kind of expected such reaction. No intent to hijack this thread, but since we raised this topic: I know there might be some trouble with that. But why is it -that- bad?

[muskrat]

I am one person that aggrees with the idea that debian should give us back firefox. I know iceweasel is supposed to be the same as firefox. But they are not!

I really don't know how different they are or why they are different, but they are. Like the post above, I also notice differences when running the same version of each.

Where I notice them is in the plugins some of the ones I use won't function in iceweasel, but work fine in Ubuntus firefox, each having the same exact version number.

It's a mythe that Iceweasel and FireFox are the same!

If you really want to install Firefox 3 using APT, then get it from Debian's experimental repositories.

Here's what you would do. Add this line to your /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ experimental main

Then run:

# apt-get update
# apt-get install -t experimental icewease

This does not install Firefox3, it will install iceweasel3.

[FolkTheory]

I am one person that aggrees with the idea that debian should give us back firefox.

except that then mozilla would sue debian. if they wanna be uptight about their firefox trademark then there's nothing debian can do.

[EMD]

With iceweasel installed, the gecko engine crashed 3 times in 10 minutes. I did not face such issues with the newest firefox, even though they should not be very different.

Are we comparing apples to apples here? Which sites were you visiting when Iceweasel crashed? Were they the same sites that you viewed with Firefox? Were you using equivalent versions of Iceweasel and Firefox? (I see that Muskrat claims that they were).

The only time Iceweasel 2.0 crashes on my computer is when I hit a Flash-intensive website, but that's because I have an old and slow processor. I've never had a problem installing Firefox plugins.

Firefox 3.0 looks pretty cool, but I gave up on it because it keeps starting in "Offline" mode (very irritating!). I'll wait until the version of Firefox 3.0 that is optimized for a Debian system becomes available. That version is called "Iceweasel."

5 Reasons to Support IceWeasel

1. Debian doesn’t have to meet the unreasonable
   
   Mozilla can’t be blamed for wanting to keep their trademarks so they also can’t be blamed for wanting to review all Debian’s custom patches. Problem is that it’s just too much of a trouble for Debian and it’s against their social contract. Debian applies lots of patches so that Firefox is better suited to the Debian environment, this is only a good thing.
2. It’s an improved Firefox
   
   Firefox is great, there’s no doubt about it. What could make Firefox better? Getting its only problems fixed! So far there have been two privacy improvements. I can’t see any reason why anyone would be against having an improved Firefox.
3. It’s completely free
   
   IceWeasel removes the unfree artwork and plugins. This gives everyone the freedom to modify, distribute and use any part of IceWeasel - an improvement on Firefox.
4. It’s important for GNU
   
   GNU can’t just throw away Mozilla’s mostly free software and not take advantage of it by stripping it of the non-free stuff and distributing a fully free browser. It takes a short amount of time to make and maintain IceWeasel and it makes a good stand for free software. Every step is still a step to completing GNU and the FSF’s job(s). They need to keep it up.
5. IceWeasel looks and sounds good
   
   Give me IceWeasel over Firefox anyday. Oh, you use Firefox? That sucks! IceWeasel is so much better. See, the name alone will make people want to switch from whatever the hell they’re using.

Are you crazy? !!! NEVER mix Ubuntu and Debian repositories.

I kind of expected such reaction. No intent to hijack this thread, but since we raised this topic: I know there might be some trouble with that. But why is it -that- bad?

Perhaps it isn't much of a problem for Firefox/Iceweasel, but you shouldn't mix Debian and Ubuntu repositories for the same reason that you shouldn't mix Etch and Lenny repositories: It can create dependency conflicts. For example, the Etch version of a package that you want to install cannot be installed because it depends on a package that you upgraded to Lenny (or Ubuntu, in this case).

One of Telemachus' posts on this subject explains the issue better than I can. If something like libc6 or gcc gets upgraded, then:

Just to clarify my previous post: libc6 is a system requirement, so it's not that having libc6 is bad. Here's its description from "aptitude show libc6"

Description: GNU C Library: Shared libraries
Contains the standard libraries that are used by nearly all programs on the
system. This package includes shared versions of the standard C library and the
standard math library, as well as many others.

The thing is that when a part of your system as basic as libc6 gets moved up to the Sid/Unstable level then it can tend to drag other parts with it. And if your gcc gets moved up, for example, then you can have trouble with modules since the kernel will want modules built with the same gcc that built the kernel. People often think, "I will just upgrade this one program to Sid and then keep everything else in Etch," but for this sort of reason it can cause problems. (Problems are not inevitable but they can happen.)

.

[Ironman]

Thanks for all the help.

[skilaatara]

If you really want to install Firefox 3 using APT, then get it from Debian's experimental repositories.

Thanks for spelling out the method so explicitly. This won't create dependency problems, though? The reason I'm looking for an APT way to get FF3 is because when I try to download Mozilla plugins from the Testing repository (for the FF3 I downloaded and installed in /opt), the package manager refuses due to the lack of Iceweasel.

Regarding Iceweasel/Firefox differences: would the Iceweasel in Experimental be any less stable than Mozilla's FF3 release candidate?

[BioTube]

Iceweasel's giving me funny behavior with pango, so I've disabled that. Also, you will also need to change the general.useragent.extra.firefox in about:config to read 'Firefox' instead of 'Iceweasel'(something Debian should do for you; hell, GNOME should do that with Epiphany, considering it's a Gecko-base browser too).

[EMD]

If you really want to install Firefox 3 using APT, then get it from Debian's experimental repositories.

Thanks for spelling out the method so explicitly. This won't create dependency problems, though?

What do you mean by "dependency problems?" It will replace your current version of Iceweasel (by upgrading it to version 3), but I don't think Iceweasel 3 will make any other packages uninstallable.

The reason I'm looking for an APT way to get FF3 is because when I try to download Mozilla plugins from the Testing repository (for the FF3 I downloaded and installed in /opt), the package manager refuses due to the lack of Iceweasel.

Would plugins for the version of Iceweasel that is currently in Lenny (2.0) be compatible with Iceweasel 3.0? Instinct tells me that they would not be, but I'm not sure. Your best bet is to get them directly from Mozilla.

Regardless, the Mozilla plugins from Testing didn't work with the version of Firefox 3 that you installed in /opt/ because APT is unaware of Firefox 3's presence. (You installed it from a tarball, you didn't use apt-get, aptitude or dpkg).

Regarding Iceweasel/Firefox differences: would the Iceweasel in Experimental be any less stable than Mozilla's FF3 release candidate?

Perhaps. As of 6 June 2008, the version of Iceweasel 3.0 in Experimental is Release Candidate 1, while the version of Firefox 3.0 available at Mozilla is Release Candidate 2. One would imagine that the latter would be more stable, but the differences are probably minor at best.
.

[BioTube]

Plugins contain a list of FF versions they are compatible with. If the FF you're running sees that it isn't on the list, the extension is disabled. However, that doesn't mean it won't work - you've just got to hack it. I've got an extension("nightly tester tools") that does that automatically.

[alvaro]

hi guys!
i didn't know whether to post inside this thread or to open a new one:

i installed lenny on my old desktop a week ago and icewasel/epiphany didnt seem to work: google was taking about 20 seconds to load, many other sites didnt load at all.

i've done a little search and it doesnt seem to be a problem for anyone else, but: people report very low speed while loadind specific pages; also, i'm puzzled (download speeds for aptitude were about 200K/s). ¿Maybe some default configuration? (i live in chile, and iceweasel was doing some redirecting)

i ended up installing xubuntu on another partition and had no trouble whatsoever with firefox, but still would like to get back to debian: this machine is old, i have very little memory, and debian seemed faster.

any hints?

[L_V]

i didn't know whether to post inside this thread or to open a new one:

The thread is "Installing Firefox 3".
I understand you don't use Firefox but Iceweasel, and not version 3 but 2 !
Up to you to estimate !

[Ironman]

Well, I did end up staying with Iceweasel (he is right about the name) . I am a sort of a noob when it comes to linux, I have a limited knowledge of it right now and I didn't want to mess up anything ( at this point), so I said "what the hell, lets take Iceweasel for a spin!

While I am here though, I am having the same symptoms as Alvaro, the web pages always load after 15 to 20 seconds, that is a long time for a browser of any make or model. I have 2 systems running debian etch on them, one at home and one at work and they both do the same thing so I am thinking it has something to do with the os itself or Iceweasel in general, not machine specific. Both systems are Dell 4100's, one with 512megs of ram and the other with 300 something.

[alvaro]

hi there!

Ironman, try this:
Go to about:config in iceweasel/firefox, scroll down for the option "network.dns.disableIPv6" and try setting it to "true" (if it isnt already). Looks like most of my speed problems were due to this. Hope it helps.

alvaro

[alvaro]

i'm still puzzled by this: i'm dual booting lenny and xubuntu.

lenny: iceweasel AND firefox load pages slowly (10secs "looking up ...")
xubuntu: no issues with firefox

then, i changed that dns.ipv6 thing and it got faster
but but that key is also set to false in xubuntu's firefox.

so, it speeds up the browsing (no more noticeable "looking up"s) but it shouldnt be the "real cause".

[BioTube]

The reason IPv6 is causing so many headaches is probably that FOSS is supporting it faster than the networks.

[muskrat]

It’s completely free

IceWeasel removes the unfree artwork and plugins. This gives everyone the freedom to modify, distribute and use any part of IceWeasel - an improvement on Firefox.

This is the problem I have with Iceweasel, I want to use some of those plugins, and everybody tells me that icewaesel and firefox is the SAME or BETTER, but it depends on where your setting. I love Debian, and I really like some of those unfree plugins.

And Iceweasel just isn't better for that, nor is it the same.