Firefox-3.0.7
Introduction to Firefox
Firefox is a stand-alone browser
based on the Mozilla codebase.
With the introduction of firefox-3, the pkgconfig files for the Gecko engine (and for
nss and nspr) are not installed. This means that
applications such as Epiphany can
no longer be built against firefox, and must instead be built
against xulrunner (which is actually the same code, but built in a
different way). If you wish to build other packages which use Gecko
(for the moment, probably only gnome-2.24 or later versions will
recognize xulrunner), build Xulrunner-1.9.0.7 first.
![[Tip]](../images/tip.png)
Tip
Firefox is updated frequently as new vulnerabilities are found.
Consult mozilla
security for details of what is fixed in newer releases. The
editors cannot guess what will differ in newer versions: it
should be straightforward to upgrade within the same series
(3.0), but it is always possible that newer versions will have
increased dependencies, or that something using the nss or gecko
libraries will break. If you update, begin by updating
xulrunner if you use that, then
update firefox (ensuring the libxul-sdk option points to the new
version).
Package Information
Firefox Dependencies
Recommended
Xulrunner-1.9.0.7 which shares all these
dependencies, or for a standalone firefox the following Required
and Optional dependencies:
Required
GTK+-2.14.4, libIDL-0.8.12
Pango-1.22.2 Python-2.6.1, and
Zip-3.0
Note: libjpeg should have been
installed before GTK+ and should
exist on your system. If for some reason you haven't installed
libjpeg, you should remove the
--with-system-jpeg option from the
.mozconfig file created below.
Optional
D-Bus GLib Bindings-0.80, Doxygen-1.5.9, cURL-7.19.2 (only
for crash-reporter), GNOME Virtual File
System-2.18.1 and libgnomeui-2.18.1 (for gnome integration),
little cms-1.17, libpng-1.2.35
(patched for apng support), SQLite, startup-notification-0.9. UnZip-5.52, Valgrind (only for testing the
jemalloc code), and Wget-1.11.4
User Notes: http://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/firefox
Installation of Firefox
The configuration of Firefox is
accomplished by creating a .mozconfig
file containing the desired configuration options. A default
.mozconfig is created below. To see
the entire list of available configuration options (and an
abbreviated description of each one), issue ./configure --help. If you are
going to use system-installed versions of the NSS and NSPR
libraries, ensure you uncomment the two lines near the bottom of
the file. If you are going to build the OpenOffice package and you want to use this
Firefox installation as the
default Mozilla source, ensure you
uncomment the --enable-ldap option in
the file created below. If you are building against Xulrunner you must uncomment the 'xulrunner'
item. You may also wish to review the entire file and uncomment any
other desired options. If you would prefer to download the file
instead of creating it by typing or cut-and-pasting, you can find
it at
http://anduin.linuxfromscratch.org/files/BLFS/svn/firefox-3.0.7-mozconfig
(the file must be installed in the root of the source tree
mozilla directory, and named
.mozconfig). Create the file by
issuing the following command:
cat > .mozconfig << "EOF"
# This file contains the options used to build firefox on top
# of xulrunner. If you do not wish to build xulrunner, make the changes
# noted for a 'standalone browser'. You may need to specify additional
# options for your specific build needs (if you are building 'standalone')
# Use the information provided by running './configure --help' to
# help you determine if you need to add any additional options.
# Some additional options can be added by uncommenting the examples
# in this file or adding options by inserting a line containing
# 'ac_add_options --some-option-you-need'.
# build the browser
ac_add_options --enable-application=browser
# Use the default settings specified in the source tree
. $topsrcdir/browser/config/mozconfig
# Create an object directory and specify to build the package in that
# directory. If desired, modify the location of the object directory
# to a directory inside the source tree by removing '../' from the
# line below.
mk_add_options MOZ_OBJDIR=@TOPSRCDIR@/../firefox-build
# Specify the installation prefix. If you would prefer Firefox
# installed in a different prefix, modify the line below to fit
# your needs. You may also need to modify some of the instructions in
# the BLFS book to point to your desired prefix.
ac_add_options --prefix=/usr
# Compile with a minimal level of optimization
ac_add_options --enable-optimize
# (the --enable-system options)
# comment this if you want to use whatever patched version of cairo
# is in the shipped mozilla tree, together with the system headers
ac_add_options --enable-system-cairo
# comment this if you have not installed lcms - firefox will use
# its own copy
ac_add_options --enable-system-lcms
# comment this if you have not installed sqlite, firefox will use
# its own old copy
ac_add_options --enable-system-sqlite
# (the --with-system options)
# comment this if you did not build libjpeg before gtk+-2
ac_add_options --with-system-jpeg
# These two options enable support for building Firefox with
# system-installed versions of the Network Security Services (NSS)
# and Netscape Portable Runtime (NSPR) libraries. We build these
# as part of xulrunner, so we can use them here. For a standalone
# firefox you might want to comment these.
ac_add_options --with-system-nspr
ac_add_options --with-system-nss
# comment this if you have not installed png with the apng patch
ac_add_options --with-system-png
# uncomment this if you are building nspr as part of firefox
#ac_add_options --with-pthreads
# zlib is in LFS
ac_add_options --with-system-zlib
# (options to disable parts of the package)
# This option is used to disable the a11y support in the Firefox
# binaries. Comment out this option if you require a11y support.
ac_add_options --disable-accessibility
# uncomment this if you did not build curl
#ac_add_options --disable-crashreporter
# comment this if you have built dbus-glib
ac_add_options --disable-dbus
# comment this if you have gnome-vfs and libgnomeui, and wish to
# integrate firefox into your gnome desktop
ac_add_options --disable-gnomevfs
# This option is added so that the Mozilla Installer program is not
# built or installed. The program is not required for a BLFS
# installation of Firefox.
ac_add_options --disable-installer
# The mochitest is a separate test feature and has caused problems
# in the past.
ac_add_options --disable-mochitest
# This option is added so that test libraries and programs are not
# built. These would only be required for debugging purposes.
ac_add_options --disable-tests
# The updater is not useful if you build from source.
ac_add_options --disable-updater
# (options to add extra parts of the package)
# This option is used to enable source tree included LDAP support in
# the Firefox binaries.
###################################################################
#
# NOTE: You must uncomment this option if there is any chance of
# compiling the OpenOffice package from source code using this copy
# of Firefox for your Mozilla support.
# This has NOT been tested, current versions of OpenOffice are
# assumed not to compile agaisnt this version of xulrunner!
#
###################################################################
#ac_add_options --enable-ldap
# This option causes the installed binaries to have the official
# Firefox name embedded in them. Due to license restrictions, you
# may not distribute binaries created using this option. It also
# means you get a popup EULA when you first run firefox.
# If you disable this, the browser will call itself Minefield.
ac_add_options --enable-official-branding
# use the anti-phishing blacklist
ac_add_options --enable-safe-browsing
# This option is used so that the debugging symbols are removed from
# the installed binaries during the installation process. Comment out
# this option if you may have a need to retain the debugging symbols
# in the installed binaries (the resulting binaries will be about 7MB
# bigger).
ac_add_options --enable-strip
# Uncomment this option if you desire support for dual-monitor
# display of Firefox using the X-Window Xinerama libraries.
#ac_add_options --enable-xinerama
# ('with' options)
# This option identifies the default binary directory of the Firefox
# installation and is used to locate Firefox's installed files. This
# option is not required for end-user browsing, and is only used for
# development purposes.
#ac_add_options --with-default-mozilla-five-home=/usr/lib/firefox-3.0.7
# Point to the xulrunner libraries - comment this for a standalone browser
ac_add_options --with-libxul-sdk=/usr/lib/xulrunner-devel-1.9.0.7
EOF
Compile Firefox by issuing the
following commands:
make -f client.mk build
This package does not come with a test suite.
Now, as the root user, install the
package:
make -f client.mk install
If you are building firefox on xulrunner, as the root user enter the following symbolic link:
ln -sv /usr/lib/xulrunner-1.9.0.7/plugins \
/usr/lib/firefox-3.0.7/plugins
Command Explanations
make -f client.mk
...: Mozilla products are packaged to allow the use
of a configuration file which can be used to pass the configuration
settings to the configure command. make uses the client.mk file to get initial configuration and
setup parameters, then depending on the target parameter
(build or install), either runs the
configure script and
compiles the package or installs the package.
ln -sv
/usr/lib/xulrunner-1.9.0.7/plugins
/usr/lib/firefox-3.0.7/plugins: Firefox looks for plugins in its own
directory, but when building on xulrunner the plugins were installed by that
package.
Tip
If you upgrade firefox, ensure that any additional plugins are
moved to the plugin directory of the new version.
Configuring Firefox
No specific configuration is required as long as the firefox script is in the user's
path. If Firefox is installed in a
non-standard location, then make a symlink to the firefox script in the
/usr/bin directory.
If your Window or Desktop Manager does not allow you to configure a
default mail client, you can add a configuration parameter to
Firefox so that an email client
will start when you click on a mailto: URL. There are two parameters you need
to check. The procedure to check or modify any of the configuration
parameters is quite simple and the instructions here can be used to
view or modify any of the parameters.
First, open the configuration dialog by entering about:config in the address bar. This will
display a list of the configuration preferences and information
related to each one. You can use the “Filter:” bar to enter search criteria and
narrow down the listed items. Changing a preference can be done
using two methods. One, if the preference has a boolean value
(True/False), simply double-click on the preference to toggle the
value and two, for other preferences simply right-click on the
desired line, choose “Modify” from the menu and change the value.
Creating new preference items is accomplished in the same way,
except choose “New” from the
menu and provide the desired data into the fields when prompted.
The two configuration preference items you need to check so that
Firefox uses a specified default
mail client are the network.protocol-handler.external.mailto
which should be set to True and the
network.protocol-handler.app.mailto
which should be set to the path of the desired mail client, e.g.,
/usr/bin/thunderbird.
Many applications look for netscape when they need to open a
browser. You may wish to make the following symlink for convenience
(as the root user).
ln -v -sf firefox /usr/bin/netscape
For installing various Firefox
plugins, refer to Mozdev's PluginDoc
Project. If you have the JDK-6 Update 5
already installed, create the following link as the root user to utilize the installed Java plugin:
ln -v -s $JAVA_HOME/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so \
/usr/lib/firefox-3.0.7/plugins
Some packages install Mozilla plugins into the default system-wide
directory /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins.
If you have not already done this for Xulrunner create symbolic links in the
Firefox plugin directory
/usr/lib/firefox-3.0.7/plugins to the
files in the default plugin directory (you should link to the
actual files and not other links). Alternatively, you can move or
copy the files in the default plugin directory to the Firefox plugin directory. An example of
creating a symbolic link is shown below. Create the links as the
root user:
ln -v -s ../../mozilla/plugins/<plugin.so> \
/usr/lib/firefox-3.0.7/plugins
Contents
Installed Programs:
firefox and firefox-config
Installed Libraries:
Numerous libraries, browser components,
plugins, extensions, and helper modules installed in
/usr/lib/firefox-3.0.7
Installed Directories:
/usr/include/firefox-3.0.7,
/usr/lib/firefox-3.0.7, and /usr/share/idl/firefox-3.0.7
Short Descriptions
|
firefox
|
is a shell script that sets up the environment and calls
the firefox-bin binary.
|
|
firefox-config
|
determines the compile and linker flags that should be
used to compile and link programs that use Firefox libraries and browser
components.
|
Last updated on 2009-03-18 16:02:06 +0000