Firedog 1.2 - a smarter, faster, more stylish browser suite

[DMcCunney]

According Firedog, it's Shockwave Flash 10.0.32.

That's pretty current. What happens if you install FF 3.6 and try YouTube? (I'd start FF from a terminal window and watch the messages. It's possible you would see something useful when it crashed.)

I tend to avoid Flash heavy sites on my Puppy machine. I don't get crashes, but the machine doesn't really have the horsepower to handle them. (I just tried a music video on YouTube. The audio wasn't too bad, but the video just couldn't update fast enough, and I saw a sequence of still pictures instead of smooth motion.)
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Dennis

[Frank Cox]

Lobo you might want to install FireDog after you remove SeaMonkey and then use the U-Tube downloader and watch the videos offline. When I have used FireDog on cable internet I could do either with no problems.

Delete everything that has to do with Seamonkey ,FireFox,FireDog or Mozilla save these four libs. Then reinstall FireDog and upgrade the flash with the pet file.

[rokytnji]

Posting Now from Firedog 1.2. I must have done a weird install. Been reading through the thread on how it would replace Seamonkey as default browser. This did not happen in my case.

My desktop icon noted below.
seamonkey or Browser Icon=/usr/local/bin/mozstart
opera = /usr/bin/opera
firefox 3.5.7= /root/firefox/firefox

I never checked before I installed firedog but I think firefox 3.5.7 used to launch from /usr.bin/firefox

I downloaded a firedog icon and made /user/bin/firefox to launch firedog from it. It looks like firedog took over the /usr/bin/firefox file instead of taking over seamonkey. I don;t know how I managed this. I did not manually change the icon/command launch for firefox 3.5.7. Must be poltergeists. LOL.

Anyhows. I have java working (jre6u17) in all browsers. Flash 10 in Opera 10 and Firefox 3.5.7 and Seamonkey 1.8.

Flash 9 in Firedog. I did all this drowsy eyed tonight. So don't ask me how I snafued it. I installed Opera Pet first a month ago. Firefox 3.5 pet maybe a week later. Tonight was Firedog 1.2 night.

I am not unhappy with how this turned out. Everything works. Trippy thing is I have Firedogs Taskbar in Firefox 3.5.7 also. To tired to figure out right now. Like the browser scottman. Just ramblin I guess.

Thanks for the pet.

[Frank Cox]

Do you have all of FireDogs links etc but FF as the actual browser? If so please tell me how you did that.

[rokytnji]

Do you have all of FireDogs links etc but FF as the actual browser? If so please tell me how you did that.

I have all of scottmans preinstalled bookmarks in Firefox 3.5.7 and also Firedog 1.2 which calls itself Firefox 2.0.2 (which you probably know already)

I also have imported all my AntiX Bookmarks etc under import Netscape Bookmarks also.

I wish I could tell you how I ended up this way as far as how it is configured. But all I did was download and install your pet package. It must be that I had a previous Firefox installed running Alongside Seamonkey.

It just Hit me what I may have done different from everybody else. My Firefox 3.5 install is the downloaded tar.bz2 from Firefoxes site. I extracted into ~ folder. Which means I never had it launching from /usr/bin. Must be suffering from CRS lately.

Anyhows. I got a frankenstein install right now. Everytime I open Firefox 3.5 after opening Firedog 1.2. I get the addon check window. Which is no big deal right now. You can try my experiment if you want to see what I mean.

[sc0ttman]

Do you have all of FireDogs links etc but FF as the actual browser? If so please tell me how you did that.

you can export the bookmarks, using the bookmark manager, and import them into firefox... it may need some pruning/moving after import...

I never checked before I installed firedog but I think firefox 3.5.7 used to launch from /usr/bin/firefox ... It looks like firedog took over the /usr/bin/firefox file instead of taking over seamonkey. I don't know how I managed this.

Seamonkey is not replaced by firedog - the defaultbrowser file is updated by firedog, which means firedog replaces seamonkey as the default browser.. seamonkey should be removed before installing firedog if you want firedog as the default browser..

firedog IS firefox, so will replace any other firefox installations you already have ... especially in /usr/lib/firefox - both firefox and firedog use this folder...

also, rokytnji seems to have replaced the .mozilla folder (in /root) of his firefox install with that of firedog... or vice versa!

If addons worked for all version of firefox, you could simply replace the .mozilla folder from firefox with firedogs... but that wont work well, because various firedog addons don't work with later versions of firefox...

if you somehow merged different firefox verions (in which firedog should be included) then type 'defaultbrowser' in the terminal and see which one loads up.. if you installed firedog last, it should be firedog...

by the way, i'm still planning on updating firedog using some static builds linked to previously on this thread by DMCunney / jemimah... don't know when though..

[sc0ttman]

Thanks for the feedback, it's great news.. I'm glad you like it..

Is there a way to link VLC to firedog?

No idea, I'm sure there is, but I've hardly ever installed VLC.. And not for ages, so couldn't say... I would readup on making VLC work with firefox, that'll be exactly the same in Firedog...

[sc0ttman]

I really like FireDog and wish that there were a version for Ubuntu and other Linux OS's.

You could convert the firedog dot pet file into a tar.gz file and unzip when using another distro (how dare you! ) and see how it goes...

Or... Off the top of my head, I reckon a person with NO programming/scripting knowledge could download a tar.gz of FF2 from mozilla, which should work across multiple distros, and then replace the '.mozilla' (and maybe 'defaults') folders with firedogs..

then you have a firedog for multiple distros...

[Frank Cox]

As usual you do a great job of answering questions.
I am just going to leave well enough alone unless I am forced to switch browsers by Google. If so I will try changing the bookmarks.
Thanks

[rokytnji]

because various firedog addons don't work with later versions of firefox..

Which is why I get the addon window when opening Firefox 3.5.7. Other than that. Both firefoxes run flawlessly. I am just finishing up a AntiX 8.5 rc4 install (I am a tester). So I aint on my other laptop yet to try

then type 'defaultbrowser' in the terminal

yet. Will post back when I do. Just for info. The positive thing with my install is that Firefox 3.5.7 is using Firedogs Taskbar, Which frees up a lot of screenspace in Firefox 3.5.7. Like I said. Frankenstein install.

[DMcCunney]

because various firedog addons don't work with later versions of firefox..

Which is why I get the addon window when opening Firefox 3.5.7. Other than that. Both firefoxes run flawlessly.

It sounds like you managed to have Firedog and Firefox 3.5.7 use the same profile, so what you see is what I'd expect.

The Firefox program and libraries install in the /usr/lib hierarchy, but the profile directory lives under /root/my-documents in the .mozilla folder.

Firefox stores add-ons, themes, bookmarks, cookies, passwords, the cache, and a variety of other things in the profile folder by default. (It's possible to have th4e cache placed elsewhere, and I do so.)

With Firedog (based on Firefox 2.0) and Firefox 3.5.7 sharing the profile, they'll attempt to use the same add-ons. How well this will work will depend on the add-ons involved. Some may not work in FF 3.5+, because of underlying architectural changes that break what they do. Others may work fine once FF 3.5+ has been told they will. The reverse is also true, though I expect better luck in getting extensions from FF 2 to work in 3.5+ than the other way around. There are a couple of ways of telling Firefox add-ons for a different version will work. I do it with an add-on.

One thing will be different: bookmarks. FF 2 uses a bookmarks.html file. FF 3+ uses an SQLite dtabase. So the two Firefoxes will be using a different set of bookmarks, and will gradually get out of sync. It's possible to have FF 3+ automatically back the bookmarks up to HTML, and specify where the backup gets put, so you could have FF 3 update the bookmarks.html file used by FF 2 at the end of each session. Doing it the other way around is possible - you can have FF 3 import a bookmarks.html file - but is probably not a good idea.

There are an assortment of ways to save screen real estate in Firefox. Look at View/Toolbars/Customize. Firefox here has the URL and search bars moved to the menu bar, with the nav bar and bookmarks toolbar (which I don't use) hidden entirely, and the status bar autohides until moused over. The Stop and Reload button are combined, and the menu is compressed to an icon which expands when moused over. I do this with CSS using the Stylish add-on, but it can be done via extensions as well.
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Dennis

[Frank Cox]

[quote} you can export the bookmarks, using the bookmark manager, and import them into firefox... it may need some pruning/moving after import...
[/quote]

Hi Scott

I exported the Firedog bookmarks into an html but when I try to import them into ff3.56 it does nothing.

Any ideas?

[Frank Cox]

[quote} you can export the bookmarks, using the bookmark manager, and import them into firefox... it may need some pruning/moving after import...

Hi Scott

I exported the Firedog bookmarks into an html but when I try to import them into ff3.56 it does nothing.

On second look it installed them 4 times but it did not place the new FireDog toolbar where the original FF 3.56 was.
I open FF in safe and returned everything to default.
I re-imported the HTML file . I have the drop down list but not the add ons or the links in the address bar.

[sc0ttman]

I re-imported the HTML file . I have the drop down list but not the add ons or the links in the address bar.

The dropdown list of bookmarks in the location bar (address bar) is provided by the addon 'LocationBar2 '.. You can get it here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4014

The toolbar (with all the other addons) is controlled by files other than the bookmarks html files. You will need to install these manually or edit the .js and .css files in the /chrome folders..

Installing them manually is the easy way, I think..

In short, importing the Firedog bookmarks will only add the bookmarks, not the addons which allow easier access to them, which need to be downloaded separately..

Hope this helps.

[DMcCunney]

[quote} you can export the bookmarks, using the bookmark manager, and import them into firefox... it may need some pruning/moving after import...

I exported the Firedog bookmarks into an html but when I try to import them into ff3.56 it does nothing.

On second look it installed them 4 times but it did not place the new FireDog toolbar where the original FF 3.56 was.
I open FF in safe and returned everything to default.
I re-imported the HTML file . I have the drop down list but not the add ons or the links in the address bar.

FF 3.X replaces bookmarks.html with an SQLite database called places.sqlite. Imported bookmarks will appear under the Bookmarks menu choice, or in the Sidebar if you open that and choose Bookmarks as what it displays. (That's my default choice. I seldom use the bookmarks menu, preferring to display them in the Sidebar, and adding things by drag and drop.)

Extensions are another matter. You will need to manually add those you want from Firedog into FF 3.6. Which specific ones do you want? FF 3.X made changes in the underlying infrastructure for extensions, and some 2.X stuff will either not work or require coercion to install.
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Dennis

[thelash]

I'm on dialup on an IBM T22, and installed teenpup because I liked the look of the apps available. Opera is the default browser, but I've discovered that firedog with fasterfox is significantly faster than Opera10 turbo at loading pages - at least on dialup.
I've also given ff3.6 a whirl on here, and it runs well but not as fast as firedog. Also starts with an annoying but harmless error message about a gconf file that I don't understand.
Love the layout of firedog, and have enjoyed setting up the toolbars etc to suit my needs.
Thanks very much!

[Frank Cox]

I re-imported the HTML file . I have the drop down list but not the add ons or the links in the address bar.

The dropdown list of bookmarks in the location bar (address bar) is provided by the addon 'LocationBar2 '.. You can get it here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4014

The toolbar (with all the other addons) is controlled by files other than the bookmarks html files. You will need to install these manually or edit the .js and .css files in the /chrome folders..

Installing them manually is the easy way, I think..

In short, importing the Firedog bookmarks will only add the bookmarks, not the addons which allow easier access to them, which need to be downloaded separately..

Hope this helps.

Thanks!

[sc0ttman]

I'm on dialup on an IBM T22, and ... Opera is the default browser, but I've discovered that firedog with fasterfox is significantly faster ... at least on dialup.
I've also given ff3.6 a whirl on here, and it runs well but not as fast as firedog...
Love the layout of firedog, and have enjoyed setting up the toolbars etc to suit my needs.
Thanks very much!

Glad you like it, it seems to be popular on dialup...

And you're welcome Frank, hope this helped!

[Frank Cox]

Hi Scott:

I had all sorts of problems so I switched back to FireDog. It is significantly faster and the only problem I have is the annoying message on Google Docs that they soon will no longer support it.

I will take my chances and stay with FireDog until I am forced to change.
If I ever have to I will cut off updating as Firefox subscribes to the Peter Principle. They can't leave well enough alone.

Thanks again!

[DMcCunney]

I had all sorts of problems so I switched back to FireDog. It is significantly faster and the only problem I have is the annoying message on Google Docs that they soon will no longer support it.

It depends on what support you need. They are specifically dropping support for older browsers in Google Sites and Google Docs, because those products use newer web technologies not supported in Firefox 2.X. (They are dropping support for their own Chrome 3.0 as well.) FF2 is still supported in GMail (and they refactored the GMail code base to make IE 6 a fully supported browser. I don't want to think what that took to accomplish.)

I will take my chances and stay with FireDog until I am forced to change.
If I ever have to I will cut off updating as Firefox subscribes to the Peter Principle. They can't leave well enough alone.

Define "well enough".

Firefox attempts to be standards compliant. Current emerging web standards include HTML5 and CSS3. Do you recommend FF stop in its tracks and not try to support them?

Current FF development includes making plugins asynchronous in their own process, so if you are viewing something like Flash or a Java applet and the plugin crashes, it doesn't crash the browser. (This just came out of beta and is in FF 3.6.4.)

The fundamental issue you are dealing with is that emerging technologies are outgrowing older hardware. My Puppy box has a <1ghz processor, 256MB of RAM, and a slow HD. I normally use a static build of SeaMonkey 1.1.19 when I browse from it for performance reasons. FF 3.6 runs, but it's slow to invoke and sluggish when up. There's a fair amount of stuff I just don't try to do from the Puppy box (like watch YouTube video) because it simply doesn't have the power for the task. I'm constrained by hardware. But I knew that going in, and don't gripe about it. I don't expect everything else to slow to a crawl because the box I run Puppy on can't keep up.
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Dennis