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How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

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realnubnut
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How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#1 Post by realnubnut »

1. Download latest firefox from: http://www.mozilla.com

2. Copy downloaded file to /opt

3. Extract

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# tar -jxvf firefox-x.x.xx.tar.bz2
4. Change permissions

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# chown -R root:users /opt/firefox
# chmod 750 /opt/firefox
note: your user should be a member of the group "users"

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# usermod -a -G users username
5. Create symbolic link

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# ln -s /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/bin/firefox
6. Delete firefox-x.x.xx.tar.bz2 from /opt

7. Done

8. To install a new version:

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# rm -rf /opt/firefox*
# rm /usr/bin/firefox
then repeat previous steps


Add a shortcut menu:
1. Create firefox.desktop file

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# touch /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop
2. Edit firefox.desktop (nano is used in this example, any editor will do):

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# nano /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop
contents of firefox.desktop:

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[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Mozilla Firefox
Comment=Browse the World Wide Web
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Exec=/usr/bin/firefox %U
Icon=/opt/firefox/icons/mozicon128.png
StartupNotify=true
Categories=Network;WebBrowser;

eric1959
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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#2 Post by eric1959 »

There is one big drawback : firefox from mozilla website is not configured with --enable-system-cairo , so fonts are not rendered in a proper way...
Better : http://debian-bits-and-snips.blogspot.c ... ueeze.html
or : http://debian-bits-and-snips.blogspot.c ... -4-rc.html
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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#3 Post by stevepusser »

Another big drawback that was not noted is that Firefox build is 32-bit x86 only, and requires additional ia32lib packages to work correctly on a 64-bit amd64 machine. (or other tricks, such as a 32-bit kernel or 32-bit chroot) Other architectures are out of luck with Mozilla packages---Debian builds native versions of Iceweasel for many different architectures.
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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#4 Post by kedaha »

stevepusser wrote:Another big drawback that was not noted is that Firefox build is 32-bit x86 only, and requires additional ia32lib packages to work correctly on a 64-bit amd64 machine. (or other tricks, such as a 32-bit kernel or 32-bit chroot) Other architectures are out of luck with Mozilla packages---Debian builds native versions of Iceweasel for many different architectures.
Yes, why use FF when one can use Iceweasel? However, a quick way to install Firefox 64-bits from LMDE is by using gdebi or by adding the repository to the sources.list as I posted here. There are no conflicting dependency issues, IMO, and FF4 is sure to be added there any time soon.
DebianStable

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$ vrms

No non-free or contrib packages installed on debian!  rms would be proud.

cynwulf

Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#5 Post by cynwulf »

You can get a newer Iceweasel 4.0 from the experimental repo or from the mozilla.debian.net backports repo for squeeze.

http://mozilla.debian.net/
http://wiki.debian.org/DebianExperimental

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bohu
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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#6 Post by bohu »

Firefox and IceWeasel both have been dead slow since I switched to Debian. This is not all bad because it has led me to try other browsers.
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ComputerBob
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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#7 Post by ComputerBob »

bohu wrote:Firefox and IceWeasel both have been dead slow since I switched to Debian. This is not all bad because it has led me to try other browsers.
See if this speeds them up:
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=61797
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realnubnut
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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#8 Post by realnubnut »

I see all these guys who are very pushy for iceweasel but the question that comes to mind is how come this situation does not translate to more contributors for the iceweasel project? Since time immemorial Mike Hommey is the lone fox behind iceweasel. This is the reason why iceweasel is slow in catching up with firefox releases.

What is this mozilla.debian.net? Who is behind this project? Will this just add another layer of confusion?

Mike Hommey quote: "But I do hope Wheezy will get Firefox back"

By the way we are talking about Debian Squeeze here, a stable release.

cynwulf

Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#9 Post by cynwulf »

realnubnut wrote:What is this mozilla.debian.net? Who is behind this project? Will this just add another layer of confusion?
Read the page or this
Mike Hommey
No
realnubnut wrote:By the way we are talking about Debian Squeeze here, a stable release.
Yes... what is your point?

realnubnut
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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#10 Post by realnubnut »

cynwulf wrote:
realnubnut wrote:What is this mozilla.debian.net? Who is behind this project? Will this just add another layer of confusion?
Read the page or this
Mike Hommey
No
Good to know it's Mike Hommey not some anon team/guy who likes running his mouth.

cynwulf wrote:
realnubnut wrote:By the way we are talking about Debian Squeeze here, a stable release.
Yes... what is your point?
If you don't see the point, then I guess I have none. But if it could be of any help, it has something to do with experimenting.

cynwulf

Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#11 Post by cynwulf »

realnubnut wrote:Good to know it's Mike Hommey not some anon team/guy who likes running his mouth.
Ok...
cynwulf wrote:If you don't see the point, then I guess I have none. But if it could be of any help, it has something to do with experimenting.
O.... k....

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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#12 Post by craigevil »

Download, extract, create a desktop shortcut, done.

Or just use Iceweasel.


apt-cache policy iceweasel
iceweasel:
Installed: 4.0-3
Candidate: 4.0-3
Version table:
*** 4.0-3 0
1 http://mirrors.kernel.org/debian/ experimental/main i386 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
4.0~rc1-1 0
500 http://mozilla.debian.net/ experimental/iceweasel-4.0 i386 Packages
3.5.18-1 0
500 http://mirrors.kernel.org/debian/ unstable/main i386 Packages
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shrinivas
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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#13 Post by shrinivas »

I have done exactly as described here.
Still,clicking on the icon 'Firefox" opens a new instance of Iceweasel 3.5.16 !

I recently installed Debian 32-bit OS.
Regards and thanks,
Shrinivas

eric1959
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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#14 Post by eric1959 »

opens a new instance of Iceweasel 3.5.16
Did you close Iceweasel 3.5.16 first.....?
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cynwulf

Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#15 Post by cynwulf »

That's normal, it will run the one in /usr/bin - you need to get run of that and change it to a symlink to the firefox you install in opt.

There is a howto somewhere that explains how to replace Iceweasel or you can just purge it - I think that does the trick...

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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#16 Post by stevepusser »

shrinivas wrote:I have done exactly as described here.
Still,clicking on the icon 'Firefox" opens a new instance of Iceweasel 3.5.16 !

I recently installed Debian 32-bit OS.
Regards and thanks,
Shrinivas
Where is the icon you are talking about? In the menu? Usually that points to a .desktop file in /usr/share/applications, and that's a text file that can be edited, and the "Exec" line changed to the actual binary or launcher script you want to run.
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shrinivas
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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#17 Post by shrinivas »

stevepusser wrote:
shrinivas wrote:I have done exactly as described here.
Still,clicking on the icon 'Firefox" opens a new instance of Iceweasel 3.5.16 !

I recently installed Debian 32-bit OS.
Regards and thanks,
Shrinivas
Where is the icon you are talking about? In the menu? Usually that points to a .desktop file in /usr/share/applications, and that's a text file that can be edited, and the "Exec" line changed to the actual binary or launcher script you want to run.
Hi, the icon is Alt+F1>Applications>Internet>Mozilla Firefox.
I am a newbie, pray tell me how to " line changed to the actual binary or launcher script you want to run" ? Actually, in properties, it shows that
" /usr/bin/firefox %U ". Probably, I have to uninstall Iceweasel to make it work. (I am not likely to do it, because I installed Iceweasel 4 and had some problem of stability.)
Regards.

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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#18 Post by craigevil »

All I do is download, extract, create a desktop shortcut, then copy the desktop.file to usr/share/applications so it shows up in the lxde menu.

My Firefox desktop.file (all I did was copy the iceweasel file and change the exec and icon lines, and of course the name.)

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[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Firefox
Comment=Browse the World Wide Web
X-GNOME-FullName=Firefox
Exec=/home/craig/Downloads/firefox/firefox %u
Terminal=false
X-MultipleArgs=false
Type=Application
Icon=/home/craig/Downloads/firefox/icons/mozicon128.png
Categories=Network;WebBrowser;
MimeType=text/html;text/xml;application/xhtml+xml;application/xml;application/vnd.mozilla.xul+xml;application/rss+xml;application/rdf+xml;image/gif;image/jpeg;image/png;
StartupWMClass=Firefox-bin
StartupNotify=true
No need to mess with extracting to /opt or /usr/local , I just keep it in my /home

Takes less than 2 minutes to have the REAL Firefox this way.
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realnubnut
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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#19 Post by realnubnut »

Yes getting and maintaining the real thing is so easy thats why I do it. A little script goes a long way.

craigevil wrote: Takes less than 2 minutes to have the REAL Firefox
I clocked less than a minute. true story

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Re: How to install the "real" Firefox on Debian Squeeze

#20 Post by stevepusser »

When you install Debian's Iceweasel, it creates a "Firefox" symlink that points to the Iceweasel launcher. This is to satisfy some programs that only look for Firefox, so /usr/bin/firefox will still launch Iceweasel if it's installed. So like craigevil says, put the full path to your Firefox launcher script in the .desktop file.
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