[SOLVED] Is there a 'standalone' version of Firefox?

tekra · 06-25-2018, 03:12 PM

I'm running Debian 8.2 on an old 32-bit machine and want to upgrade from the ancient Iceweasel. Trying to install the current Deb Firefox requires deleting half the apps.

There used to be statically-compiled (sc. 'standalone') versions available, but I can't see any references on Moz.org - everything's so 'automatic' that there's little detailed info.

Does anyone know if static versions are still available, or of a suitable alternative browser?

jefro · 06-25-2018, 04:58 PM

I'd suspect that you can create a static build. If you have wine you might consider running a portable windows version.

I think there are some static build basic browsers but it may depend on your requirements.

Not sure I get the part about deleting half the apps.

https://www-archive.mozilla.org/build/static-build.html

You might have an ability to run one of the no install programs like snaps or other.

https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ux-4175450674/

scasey · 06-25-2018, 05:33 PM

My recollection is that I just downloaded the tarball, ran tar -xvf on it, and ran the firefox executable that resulted. There was no compiling or building to do.

I had to do that to get the latest version (which is at 60.0.2). It did not AFAIK overwrite or remove anything.
I extracted to /usr/local...it created a firefox directory there. I then linked from /bin.

I got the tarball here

I'm running CentOS 7.5 with the Cinnamon desktop. The "current" CentOS version isn't...I wanted (and got) latest and greatest, and it now updates from within Firefox.

syg00 · 06-25-2018, 05:40 PM

Code:

ldd $(which firefox)
	not a dynamic executable

ondoho · 06-25-2018, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tekra

I'm running Debian 8.2 on an old 32-bit machine and want to upgrade from the ancient Iceweasel.

that is strange; i recently installed wheezy, when it still received security updates, and was somewhat disappointed to see that it used firefox-esr instead of iceweasel.

do you upgrade the system regularly?
what are your sources?

scasey · 06-25-2018, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00

Code:

ldd $(which firefox)
	not a dynamic executable

I'm not sure what that means, but on my system:

Code:

ldd $(which firefox)
	linux-vdso.so.1 =>  (0x00007fffa3ba6000)
	libpthread.so.0 => /lib64/libpthread.so.0 (0x00007f7278126000)
	libdl.so.2 => /lib64/libdl.so.2 (0x00007f7277f22000)
	librt.so.1 => /lib64/librt.so.1 (0x00007f7277d19000)
	libstdc++.so.6 => /lib64/libstdc++.so.6 (0x00007f7277a11000)
	libm.so.6 => /lib64/libm.so.6 (0x00007f727770f000)
	libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib64/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00007f72774f8000)
	libc.so.6 => /lib64/libc.so.6 (0x00007f7277135000)
	/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x000055d846fd8000)

Note again: I did not load from the repositories, as they are at version 52.8.0 (again CentOS, not Debian), but from the posted site. I uninstalled the repo version, then installed the tarball.

jefro · 06-25-2018, 07:01 PM

Pretty sure that link JohnVV posted in my last link leads to a compressed folder that can simply be ran on most distro's. Well actually they changed ftp to https.

tekra · 06-26-2018, 01:04 AM

Thanks for all the tips.

> ldd $(which firefox)
not a dynamic executable

Yes. On checking, the tarball is about 60MB, so it's likely static. Be the easiest way to solve dependency issues.

> Not sure I get the part about deleting half the apps.

Cleans out old libs etc which also removes apps depending on them: my guess on looking at Synaptic's ToDo list.

> do you upgrade the system regularly?

No: buy a CD set and run an on-disk repo. Too many electronics apps etc that are a bother when an update breaks things.

I like living dangerously. I'll download the tarball and give it a go.

tekra · 06-26-2018, 01:17 AM

Aaaaaaand ... it works!!!

Thanks, guys.

dogpatch · 06-27-2018, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scasey

Hmmm. Did you go to the "Advanced Install Options & Other Platforms"? It's a css pop-up dialog box, so doesn't have a link of its own.
I think the "Download Now" button on the link I posted will give you what the site thinks is the right version for your distro...which may not be correct.

The "Download Now" button didn't do anything, so I went to the next level and chose 32-bit Linux. Downloaded and extracted just fine.

I know nothing about the "Advanced Install Options & Other Platforms". Was that a download option from the firefox page, or something i can tweek after downloading? I'll post this before I run out of connection minutes, then try looking for that.