LQWiki - User contributions [en]

Firefox

2005-03-17T14:35:58Z

Failsafe: Mention of Mozilla complementaty mail application, Thunderbird

'''Mozilla Firefox''' (once known as "[[Firebird]]") is a [[cross-platform]], [[open source]], free [[web browser]] available for [[Windows]], [[Mac OS X]], [[Linux]] and a few other systems. Unlike the [[Mozilla]] Suite, which also possesses a [[chat]] client, [[mail]] functions, and web page editor, Firefox is just a browser. It is faster than the full Mozilla suite and is a good choice if you already have, or do not need, a mail application (such as Mozilla [[Thunderbird]]) and chat client.

Firefox is now a viable alternative or replacement for Microsoft's browser, [[Internet Explorer]]. With features such as pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, and perhaps best of all, the Google Toolbar, it allows for increased control over one's web surfing environment.

==History==
Firefox was originally known as Phoenix but was later renamed to Firebird and then, in February 2004, to Firefox, because of confusion with [[FireBirdSQL]].

==Current version==
The latest Firefox version is Firefox 1.0.1. For more information about Firefox, and to download it, see the [http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ Firefox homepage].
==Distribution specific information==

===Debian===
[[Debian]] firefox packages for testing/sarge and unstable/sid users are available in the standard Debian repository, get them with <tt>[[apt-get]] install mozilla-firefox</tt>. Debian stable/woody users can get a backported version [http://www.backports.org here]. A list of available plugins and locales packages can be found with <tt>[[apt-cache]] search --names-only mozilla-firefox</tt>

===Gentoo===
[[Gentoo]] users can install Firefox from a root prompt using [[emerge]], ie:

:<tt># emerge mozilla-firefox</tt>

or

:<tt># emerge mozilla-firefox-bin</tt>

(to get the official binary build installed).

==From the new Linux Installer==
Download the latest Linux installer from
[http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/ ftp.mozilla.org].
''(Note: The installer ends in '-installer.tar.gz')''

Extract it to a temporary directory, and go into the 'firefox-installer' directory. Now you must decide whether you want to install firefox system-wide, so that all computer users can use it, or whether to just install it for yourself. When you have finished the install you may delete the 'firefox-installer' directory.

===Installing Firefox for Personal Use===

Run the script called 'firefox-installer', in the firefox-installer directory. (If you are using a gui tool, you should be able to simply click on it) Click next until you are given a choice where to install firefox. You will probably want to install it somewhere like '/home/yourname/programs/firefox'. From there the install should be simple. To run firefox you must either run '/home/yourname/*/firefox/firefox', or make a shortcut to it (varies depending on your desktop environment).

===Installing Firefox System-Wide===

Open a terminal. Type in 'su' to login as the super-user. Use 'cd' to change to the directory where you extracted the firefox-installer (eg. <tt>cd /home/yourname/firefox-installer</tt>). then type in <tt>./firefox-installer</tt>. Click next until you are given a choice where to install firefox. To keep in line with linux standards, you will want to install it to '/opt/firefox'. From there the install should be simple. Once it is completed, go back to your terminal, and while still logged in as root, type in <tt>ln -s /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/local/bin/firefox</tt> (assuming you installed to /opt/firefox). This will mean any user can run firefox by simply typing in <tt>firefox</tt>, just like they were running any other program.

==From Their Binaries==
Mozilla makes nightly binaries available at http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/,
or get the latest release from
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/

Untar it somewhere in your home directory with "tar -xvzf whatever.tar.gz"
you will have to run it with ./firefox from that directory, or you can create a [[shortcut]] to it.

if you want browser plugins to work, symlink your main plugin directory contents to your new plugins directory. You will want to keep the existing libnullplugin, so rename it before doing so, and rename it back. Main plugin directories are often in /opt/mozilla or in /usr/lib/mozilla-version or similar.

== Firefox tips==
*Type "about:config" in your location bar to get a complete and editable list of Firefox's preferences.
**filter by:
***'''error''' and set the resulting setting to be true for error messages that show in the browser page instead of a pop up
***'''dom''', then set all of the dom.disable options to true if you want to have control over the content in the web browser (these should work with all sites, no site should depend on using these features, they are all [[security hazard]]s when off)
***'''mouse''' set middlemouse.contentLoadURL to false, that way middle clickin on a tab will close it
***'''autoscroll''', set it to true, and you'll middle mouse button wont' paste personal information to a search engine everytime you accidentally click it, also does the autoscroll feature, which is an ergonmic feature, that will save you from finger strain. (IE on windows has this, and firefox on windows has it on by default)

== Firefox troubleshooting==
=== Profile in use after power off===
Firefox uses a file called lock in its profile to determine if the profile is in use. If Firefox is running during a power failure, this file is still there, and Firefox will fail with profile in use message. To fix it, find the lock file and delete it.

Running as user, execute
ls ~/.mozilla/firefox/
to find the profile directories, and find
lock
in one of the directories to remove it. Or you can do the same thing with a file manager such as Konqueror.

==See also==
*[[browser wars]]

== External links ==

* [http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ Official Firefox homepage]
* [http://update.mozilla.org/extensions/ Firefox Themes]
* [http://update.mozilla.org/themes/ FireFox extensions]
* [http://forums.mozillazine.org/ MozillaZine support forums]
* [http://kb.mozillazine.org/index.phtml?title=Mozilla_Firefox The Mozilla Knowledge Base Wiki page on Firefox]

Netscape

2005-03-17T14:24:34Z

Failsafe: Corrected Firebird link to Firefox

'''Netscape''', aka Netscape Communications Corporation, was a company that pioneered the commercial graphical [[Web browser]], following [http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/FAQ.html#browser other browser]'s graphical pioneering. It has since been bought out by [[AOL]] after it was crushed by [[Microsoft]] in the first [[browser wars]]. After it was realized that they would lose the browser wars against Internet Explorer, Netscape [[open source]]d their Communicator program suite, creating the [[Mozilla]] project. The community discovered that the code base was virtually unusable from the effects of too many hastily added [[feature]]s and [[hack]]ed [[bugfix]]es, so the codebase was scrapped, and work started over. The work finally paid off, years later, and the present day Netscape browser is based on Mozilla instead of the other way around. The Netscape browser has always worked on Linux and other Unix sytems though the current emphasis of the [[Mozilla Foundation]] (with the newer [[Firefox]] browser) is arguably targeted at [[Windows]].

==External links==
*http://www.netscape.com/

<br />
''This article is a [[LQWiki:stub_articles|stub]] and needs to be finished. [[LQWiki:plunging_forward|Plunge forward]] and [[LQWiki:How_to_edit_a_page|help it grow]] !''
<br />

Set up NTL

2005-03-17T13:35:21Z

Failsafe: Added DSL gateway/router benefits

==Setting up NTL:home broadband==
The cable TV company NTL provides a broadband internet service through TV cables. This article explains how to configure a Linux box to access this service.

===Linux Support===
NTL:home does not support Linux or Intranets. They will '''not''' penalise you if you are running Linux or connecting up an Intranet, but they won't be able to give you technical support. In fact, NTL:home's technical support seems to be limited to saying "switch off the set top box at the wall, wait half a minute, switch it back on again, and if it still doesn't work try re-installing Windows."

===Preliminaries===
The NTL:home receiver has an [[RJ45]] port on the back panel which can be connected to a standard network card. [[IP address]]es are allocated by [[DHCP]], but the lease seems to be fairly long-term (in the author's experience, only one change in nearly two years' use, and this was due to a power failure; my configuration is set to renew the lease every 3 hours. [[Dynamic DNS]] should work. I have actually pointed a (static? [[User:Crazyeddie|Crazyeddie]]) domain at my address. I would not recommend specifying an NTL allocated address as a mail exchanger, though; stick to [[fetchmail]].) [[Dynamic DNS]] should work though.

===Brokennesses with NTL:home===
The service is tied to the [[MAC address]] of the [[ethernet]] card plugged into the set top box. NTL:home web space does not have any kind of scripting support. NTL:home does not provide virtually-hosted e-mail. This means you will need to get an account with a real [[ISP]] if you want to do more than look at other people's web sites and delete spam from your inbox. I recommend [[http://www.uklinux.net/ UKLinux]] -- you get true virtual hosting, [[perl]] '''and''' [[PHP]], [[MySQL]] or [[postgreSQL]], [[procmail]], [[SpamAssassin]], an Envelope-To: header, and their fees are very reasonable. You can still use the broken NTL:home web space to store photos, soundbites or something that can be downloaded verbatim.

===DHCP===
There are several [[DHCP]] clients available, and your distribution may already include one. In the author's experience, <tt>[[pump]]</tt> does not work for anything past the initial provisioning stage; <tt>[[dhcpcd]]</tt> works fine.

Configure your chosen DHCP client, cross your fingers and plug your network cable into your set top box. If all goes well, when you type <tt>/ifconfig</tt> you should see that you have a 10.x.x.x IP address bound to the network card.

===Provisioning===
When you first connect to the network, you need to go to a provisioning server to register yourself using the details in your welcome letter (the Windows installation CD does this for you). You will have to call the helpline to obtain the IP addresses of the provisioning servers, which will be unroutable addresses starting with 10; and (unless you have a working [[BIND]]) the nameservers, which will be real, routable addresses. It's a bit of an unusual request, and you'll probably be kept waiting to speak to some arch-wizard; just stay calm and try not to think about the fact that you are paying these people's wages (after all, they clearly don't).

Once you have an address for a provisioning server, connect to it using a [[web browser]] and fill in the form. A text-based browser should work fine for this.

===After Provisioning===
If you were using Windows, you would have to restart your computer about now, because the far-end DHCP server has a new IP address for you. (Or you could enter ipconfig /renew_all in the command line. Exact syntax varies between Windows versions, use ipconfig ? or --help to check.) But all you probably need to do is send a SIGHUP to your DHCP client, in order to make it check for a new IP address; and edit <tt>/etc/[[resolv.conf]]</tt> to install the nameserver addresses. You should now be good to go, with a routable IP address, and you should be able to <tt>ping</tt> boxes.

===Sharing a Connection===
It is possible to share a connection. You will need two ethernet cards, one for the Internet (broadband) and one for the Intranet (LAN). Just set it up as you would any [[NAT]] firewall/router.

Of course, to share your NTL-home connection you could also just dive straight in and buy a DSL gateway/router instead of another network card. These are fairly cheap nowadays and the benefits of this include:
*Firewall on the router itself protects all computers on your local network at same time.
*[[NAT]] by the router so outside world can't even see your local computers.
*All machines on your home network are independent - you can turn any off without affecting the connection at all (so you wouldn't always have to leave your routing PC on when using your internet connection from another machine).
*One machine isn't slowed down due to acting as a router for another.
*You can normally connect more than just one other machine (say, wife's laptop as well as the kid's games machine, plus your Linux box of course).
*You've got the possibility of [[WiFi]] support on the router too (if you pay a bit more).

I opted for the DSL gateway/router setup for my NTL-home connection and it works fine.

User:Failsafe

2005-03-16T12:13:22Z

Failsafe:

Not a lot to say here really. I'm an experienced long time UNIX user who took a couple of years out recently and forgot a load of stuff. But now, I'm back into things, have installed Debian (very nice) and am getting back into C++/Java/admin/Perl/... and loads of other stuff...

==Some favourites of mine...==

* Debian flavour is [[Debian#Testing|Sarge]]
* browser: [[Firefox]] (theme: phoenity 1.4.1)
* mail client: [[Thunderbird]] (theme: [http://tberg.net/_/G.php3?page=MOZILLA/1 qute-Nitpick 0.1.8.5])
* image editor: The [[GIMP]]

User:Failsafe

2005-03-16T12:11:31Z

Failsafe:

User:Failsafe

2005-03-16T12:08:37Z

Failsafe:

Not a lot to say here really. I'm an experienced long time UNIX user who took a couple of years out recently and forgot a load of stuff. But now, I'm back into things, have installed Debian (very nice) and am getting back into C++/Java/admin/Perl/... and loads of other stuff...

==Some favourites of mine...==

* Debian flavour is [[Debian#Testing|Sarge]]
* browser: [[Firefox|Mozilla Firefox 1.0.1]] (theme: phoenity 1.4.1)
* mail client: '''Debian Thunderbird 1.0''' (theme: [http://tberg.net/_/G.php3?page=MOZILLA/1 qute-Nitpick 0.1.8.5])
* image editor: '''The GIMP 2.2'''

User:Failsafe

2005-03-16T11:28:32Z

Failsafe: Created Sarge link

Not a lot to say here really. I'm an experienced long time UNIX user who took a couple of years out recently and forgot a load of stuff. But now, I'm back into things, have installed Debian (very nice) and am getting back into C++/Java/admin/Perl/... and loads of other stuff...

==Some favourites of mine...==

* Debian flavour is [[Debian#Testing|Sarge]]
* browser: '''Mozilla Firefox 1.0''' (theme: phoenity 1.4.1)
* mail client: '''Debian Thunderbird 1.0''' (theme: [http://tberg.net/_/G.php3?page=MOZILLA/1 qute-Nitpick 0.1.8.5])
* image editor: '''The GIMP 2.2'''

User:Failsafe

2005-03-16T11:02:05Z

Failsafe:

Not a lot to say here really. I'm an experienced long time UNIX user who took a couple of years out recently and forgot a load of stuff. But now, I'm back into things, have installed Debian (very nice) and am getting back into C++/Java/admin/Perl/... and loads of other stuff...

==Some favourites of mine...==

* Debian flavour is Sarge
* browser: '''Mozilla Firefox 1.0''' (theme: phoenity 1.4.1)
* mail client: '''Debian Thunderbird 1.0''' (theme: [http://tberg.net/_/G.php3?page=MOZILLA/1 qute-Nitpick 0.1.8.5])
* image editor: '''The GIMP 2.2'''

--[[User:Failsafe|Failsafe]] 06:02, Mar 16, 2005 (EST)

User:Failsafe

2005-03-16T10:57:26Z

Failsafe:

Not a lot to say here really. I'm an experienced long time UNIX user who took a couple of years out recently and forgot a load of stuff. But now, I'm back into things, have installed Debian (very nice) and am getting back into C++/Java/admin/Perl/... and loads of other stuff...

==Some favourites of mine...==

* Debian flavour is Sarge
* browser: '''Mozilla Firefox 1.0''' (theme: phoenity 1.4.1)
* mail client: '''Debian Thunderbird 1.0''' (theme: [http://tberg.net/_/G.php3?page=MOZILLA/1 qute-Nitpick 0.1.8.5])
* image editor: '''The GIMP 2.2'''