Apps :: Browsers and Deb packages.

The main browser that came pre-installed with my DSL 3.4 is Firefox 1.0.6 which is a very old version.
Is there any reason I cannot upgrade Firefox to 2.0.0.5 ?

Now, as it happens, Opera is my preferred browser but I have not yet been able to install it in DSL. Even though I did the "Upgrade to GNU Utils" and the "Enable Apt" things, I still can't find how to install a Deb package (something like GDebi).

Can somebody please help me with this?

Thanks
Paul

Not very optimistic I'm afraid

Firefox 2.0.0.5 needs libraries that are *considerably* changed since those on which DSL is based.
Don't even try to do it by downloading the current Debian 'stable' ('Etch') which I see at the time of writing is 2.0.0.6

You might be able to do it from the firefox tarball, run it in a terminal and see what missing libraries it reports. You are likely to need several passes to reveal these successively, and the worst case is that you might have to compile libraries for libraries for libraries ...

... and if I remember - I stand to be corrected - it expects Xorg which is architecturally different to the X11 in DSL, in which case you have no chance anyway.

I seem to remember getting Opera 8.54 (if you can still find it) to install, with selective upgrade of its dependencies *only* with Debian 'oldstable' ('Sarge') packages. But whatever you do, do *not* try to upgrade the whole system to Sarge - things would definitely break (been there, done that, ... ).

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The main browser that came pre-installed with my DSL 3.4 is Firefox 1.0.6 which is a very old version.

It isn't very old, it's very stable. What's it *missing* aside from bleeding edge sexiness? Look at firefox' changelogs and notice that subsequent versions have had security patches for security patches -- including the very quick jump to 2.0.0.6 from 2.0.0.5.

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Is there any reason I cannot upgrade Firefox to 2.0.0.5 ?

Aside from the fact that it requires GTK2, no. There's a GTK1 version of firefox 2.0 in MyDSL. Is that recent enough for you?

BTW, you should probably know that dpkg for DSL is based on Woody. You certainly won't find firefox 2.0.0.6 in Woody or Sarge. If you're put off by firefox 1.0.6, I have a feeling you're going to be very disappointed by the versions of apps you'll find in Woody. Try MyDSL.

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Now, as it happens, Opera is my preferred browser but I have not yet been able to install it in DSL.

You shouldn't have any trouble at all if you'd just use the version in MyDSL.
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JohnnyH

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...the worst case is that you might have to compile libraries for libraries for libraries ...

Doubtful. Very doubtful.

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I seem to remember getting Opera 8.54 (if you can still find it) to install

Why would you jump through hoops with Debian to get something already available -- a very recent (more recent than 8.54) version, iirc -- in MyDSL? Just checked: opera 9 is in UCI.

Thanks for the replies.
Actually, I use Opera and I really don't use Firefox very much at all (except for things that Opera doesn't handle very well -like some Google apps). So, FF being old is not a major concern for me.
However, I really do like the Speeddial in Opera (9.20 and above) and find browsing without it to be awkward.
I've upgraded to Opera 9.0 (as lucky13 suggested) and it's fine but no Speeddial.
I've also upgraded FF to version 2.0 which does have Speeddial. Interestingly though, I can't get Speeddial to actually work.

Hi Paul:
I think the latest version might work on DSL:
http://www.opera.com/download/?platform=linux
(Select distribution and vendor: Debian -> Debian 3.0 (Woody)
Also, be sure to check "Download this package in TAR.GZ format".)
The "dpkg" command is not in DSL by default; you need 'MyDSL->System->dsl-dpkg.dsl'.
Also, the .deb might complain of 'wrong' library versions because some libraries in DSL are of a later version than Woody.

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