How to compile Firefox from source w/ Debian 5.0

Ex0suit · 11-13-2009, 12:23 PM

Hey guys, I hope I'm in the right section, if I'm not, please forgive me, I just installed Debian 5.0, and I want to install firefox, and then install graphics drivers, etc, I downloaded firefox, but I don't know how to compile programs from source, I googled how to compile firefox but the results are very vague and some are very outdated. I downloaded FF from their site, the file name is firefox-3.5.5.tar.bz2, how do I compile this?

Any help is greatly appreciated

Thanks

the trooper · 11-13-2009, 12:43 PM

You shouldn't need to compile FF it's a pre-compiled binary.
The following link shows how install and run FF:

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/...refox+on+Linux

Also,did you know Debian has an unbranded version of FF in its repositories called Iceweasel?.

smeezekitty · 11-13-2009, 01:16 PM

you have to untar it then type ./configure && make && makeinstall && firefox
on the terminal in the directory you untared it to.

the trooper · 11-13-2009, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeezekitty

you have to untar it then type ./configure && make && makeinstall && firefox
on the terminal in the directory you untared it to.

That won't work.
Here's a quote as to why:

Quote:

Note: The installation file provided by Mozilla in .tar.bz2 format does not contain sources but pre-compiled binary files, therefore you can simply unpack and run them. There is no need to compile the program from source if all the system requirements are met.

And the op is trying to install the following:

Quote:

the file name is firefox-3.5.5.tar.bz2

Ex0suit · 11-13-2009, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the trooper

You shouldn't need to compile FF it's a pre-compiled binary.
The following link shows how install and run FF:

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/...refox+on+Linux

Also,did you know Debian has an unbranded version of FF in its repositories called Iceweasel?.

Yeah, you're right, I was able to open Firefox without having to do anything, also the reason why I wasn't using Iceweasel is because I wasn't sure that a plugin would work, Quake Live only supports Firefox, but I was able to get that to work without doing anything I would have to do in Firefox, thanks a lot for helping me

Also, the link in your signature for installing Nvidia drivers helped me a lot, thanks

the trooper · 11-13-2009, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Quake Live only supports Firefox

Not true.It also works with Iceweasel.

Quote:

Also, the link in your signature for installing Nvidia drivers helped me a lot, thanks

Glad to hear it worked for you.
See you in the Debian forum sometime!.

craigevil · 11-13-2009, 03:18 PM

DeviceGuru » Adding REAL Firefox to Debian Lenny - http://www.deviceguru.com/adding-rea...-debian-lenny/

I was a big fan of iceweasel for quite a while but then I realized Firefox runs a helluva lot more smoothly and uses way less ram/cpu. Gotta love the about:iceweasel info in iceweasel 3.5.5 though.
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1.4) Gecko/20091028 Iceweasel/3.5.5 (like Firefox/3.5.5; Debian-3.5.5-1) lol

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1.5) Gecko/20091102 Firefox/3.5.5 wonders how iceweasel 3.5.5 was built before firefox 3.5.5 was.

lleb · 11-13-2009, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the trooper

You shouldn't need to compile FF it's a pre-compiled binary.
The following link shows how install and run FF:

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/...refox+on+Linux

Also,did you know Debian has an unbranded version of FF in its repositories called Iceweasel?.

Iceweasel is out of date and behind several security patches and none of the new ad-ons work with iceweasel as they require a newer (3.5 v 3.0) of FF.

iceweasel and the fork for e-mail are both lacking updates from their main FF and t-bird siblings.

evo2 · 11-13-2009, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lleb

Iceweasel is out of date and behind several security patches

Really, Debian is usually vigilant about backporting all security fixes.
Can you please be specify which security issues?

Evo2.

lleb · 11-13-2009, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evo2

Really, Debian is usually vigilant about backporting all security fixes.
Can you please be specify which security issues?

Evo2.

simple, read what i posted. Iceweasel is 3.0, not 3.5 all of the security fixes that 3.5.x solved are still there in iceweasel as it is still 3.0.x

at least it was as of a few months back and how long has 3.5 FF been out of beta?

evo2 · 11-14-2009, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lleb

simple, read what i posted. Iceweasel is 3.0, not 3.5 all of the security fixes that 3.5.x solved are still there in iceweasel as it is still 3.0.x

Please read what *I* posted. Or don't you know what "back porting security fixes" means?

Evo2.

craigevil · 11-14-2009, 04:56 AM

If you look at the changelog the version in stable has the same bugfixes as the 3.5.5 version thats in sid.
Debian Changelog iceweasel (3.5.5-1) - http://packages.debian.org/changelog....5-1/changelog
Debian Changelog iceweasel (3.0.6-3) - http://packages.debian.org/changelog....6-3/changelog

The security fixes are backported to the version in
lenny/stable. The idea is that no new features and/or bugs and/or
(unknown) security problems are introduced into a stable debian system.

Upstream (mozilla) always fix security issues with a new version that
usually also contains new features and thus may contain new bugs etc.