firefox on debian

[anatak]

Hello,

I am new at linux / debian. I installed debian yesterday.
I followed the tutorial to install firefox.
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/deb...bian-etch.html

I can see the firefox folder in /opt
so I think everything went well

on my install I did not get firefox1.5 as mentioned in the article but I did get the epiphany browser.

I don't know where the the "firefox panel icon" is to start firefox.
Can someone help me to figure out how to start firefox and how to get an icon on the desktop to start firefox ?

kind regards
anatak

[Agent-X]

Use the top panel to add firefox into the menu. This is a feature of GNOME.
Other than that, if you quickly wish to open firefox...

1. Open a terminal
2. Type in

firefox

[anatak]

why is it that when I type firefox in a terminal iceweasel starts ?
Is Ice weasel the debian firefox version ?

slightly confused here

anatak

[Agent-X]

why is it that when I type firefox in a terminal iceweasel starts ?
Is Ice weasel the debian firefox version ?

slightly confused here

anatak

Yes/no.

Iceweasel is a pseudo-alternative to firefox.

To sum things up, Debian didn't like the licensing/copyright policies of firefox, so Iceweasel is being used. Iceweasel and firefox are almost the same thing, though.

GNU IceCat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you did install firefox, however, it's probably in the /usr folder somewhere. You'll have to be root and go search for it. Maybe use the find tool.

[anatak]

I see
well my firefox is in /opt
I went into /opt/firefox
and then typed firefox as root but it still opens iceweasel.

or do I have to do something else ?

After reading the wikipedia page I am even more confused.
Is Icecat the new iceweasel or is it another different build ?

[daark.child]

If you installed firefox in /opt, then you need to enter the command /opt/firefox/firefox in order to execute your version of Firefox. My personal take on the whole iceweasel thing is that its a waste of time and effort and causes a lot if confusion at times.

[anatak]

well I tried /opt/firefox/firefox but it still opens Iceweasel.

I understand why debian wanted to have iceweasel but I have to agree with daark child.

It is confusing.

I guess I will have to work with iceweasel untill I know my way around debian better and then try to install it again.

now I am going to try to install thunderbird and I hope that I can get that to work otherwise I ll have to go back to windows for working and use linux just for messing around.
anatak

[Agent-X]

Unless the firefox you just installed was an accidental install of iceweasel, you ought to be able to open it through nautilus.
I suspect iceweasel is being called (being aliased as) firefox in one of the folders.
You will have to determine which one is firefox.

[anatak]

well it is really weird.
I downloaded the tar.gz from mozilla.org
and unpacked it in a folder on the desktop
if I navigate to that folder and double click firefox (shell script)
it still opens up iceweasel.

anatak

[FeestBijtje]

I have Mozilla Firefox running on my Debian Desktop. Iceweasel should be just fine. But if you hate using it install firefox. Ive followed that guide couple of times. But it has its errors.

Alright open up terminal.
Login under root.

# ln -sf /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/bin/firefox

Should do the trick. To know if your running firefox.

#su <username>
$firefox

And you should see the origenal firefox icon on the top left.
Or click: Help > About Mozilla FireFox
And you should get this: