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Need FF2 in Hardy? Try GNU’s IceCat.

OK, so I have a special requirement for using Firefox 2. However, I run Hardy, and it has a default install of (i can’t believe it) the BETA version of Firefox 3.0b5. Golly.

So, I tried installing the firefox2 package from the Ubuntu repos, and had issues with some of the addons I use. I tried the “binary” tarball from the Firefox website. No go - it still wants to revert to FF3. As any seasoned Ubuntu user knows, don’t eff with Ubuntu. Going around making things work can sometimes cause problems with things, well, working.

THe Fox and the CatAfter some research, I found IceCat.

IceCat is “the GNU version of the Firefox browser.” Basically, the GNU guys took Mozilla’s code, and compiled it without using the “proprietary” parts, meaning the Logo and the name, among other things.

So, I downloaded the IceCat tarball. I unpacked it, expecting it to whigh out on me, as the Firefox tarball did, and low and behold! Right there next to my FF3 window was IceCat 2.0.0.13, running at the same time!

I figured it had to be too good to be true, and went about installing my needed Firefox extensions. AND THEY WORKED! HooRAH!

So, needless to say, I’m sold on IceCat as a GREAT replacement/addendum to Firefox. Get it. Use it. Love it.

/cs

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 7:53 am and is filed under Linux, Web. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “Need FF2 in Hardy? Try GNU’s IceCat.”

  1. Avuton Olrich Says:
    May 17th, 2008 at 10:43 pm

    I love the article and it had shown me something I didn’t know about but ime ff2 is completely inferior to ff3, mostly on a stability basis, which is probably why they decided to go with the beta.

  2. daikokuzyuu Says:
    May 17th, 2008 at 11:46 pm

    there is also iceweasel, which, is basically the same thing as icecat. also, i have hardy running as well, and i prefer using ff3beta5, but i needed to install an extension that isnt “compatible” with ff3, and ff3 doesnt allow me to install it… apparently, if you go to the application menu, and then internet you should find “Firefox 2 Web Browser.” However, you cannot run both firefox2 and firefox3 at the same time, since they use the same extensions/plugins folder, you can only get one at a time, so, either ff3 or ff2, icecat/iceweasel, i guess is a way to get around that, lol.

    //found this on fsdaily.com

  3. Fernando - PicandoCódigo Says:
    May 18th, 2008 at 12:56 am

    I totally agree with you. I use IceCat on Debian Lenny. It’s just awesome. IceWeasel is free as in freedom too, buy IceCat has “GNU” in its name!

  4. Braunstonian Says:
    May 18th, 2008 at 7:41 am

    Have also found that Flock is a good alternative too - especially as it is Firefox based.

  5. Boycott Novell » Links 18/05/2008: Call for FOSS in Philippines E-Voting, GNU’s Own Firefox Says:
    May 18th, 2008 at 9:09 am

    [...] Need FF2 in Hardy? Try GNU’s IceCat. [...]

  6. Vexorian Says:
    May 18th, 2008 at 1:23 pm

    Just learn to clear your firefox3 account before using firefox 2, duh?

  7. shirish Says:
    May 19th, 2008 at 8:48 am

    Hi there,
    I’m getting this error, ./icecat-bin
    ./icecat-bin: error while loading shared libraries: libmozjs.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

  8. chuck Says:
    May 19th, 2008 at 12:41 pm

    I’ve never run the ./icecat-bin. Try just ./icecat in the same directory.

    Another thing I did was to create a symlink in /usr/local/bin like so:

    ln -s /usr/local/bin/icecat /path/to/icecat

    where /path/to/icecat is the full path to the icecat executable on your system.

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