Firefox in Debian?

Got your attention? Don't hold your breath, we're not there yet, but we're a step closer: it's now possible to build Firefox from the Iceweasel package, since version 17.0.1-2 in experimental as of writing, 18.0~b6-1 from the iceweasel-beta repository, or 19.0~a2+20121228042015-1 from the iceweasel-aurora repository.

Before letting you know how you can get yourself a packaged Firefox based on the Iceweasel source, I'll remind you that redistribution of Firefox packages requires a trademark license from Mozilla, so please keep the packages you build for yourself for now.

That being said, now it's clear that such Firefox packages are not official, you can still test them for yourself. First download the Iceweasel source version of your liking, and extract it, then rename all source files from iceweasel_* to firefox_* (rename s/iceweasel/firefox/ iceweasel_* should do it). Edit debian/changelog so that the first line reads:

firefox (x.y.z-r) distribution; urgency=low

instead of:

iceweasel (x.y.z-r) distribution; urgency=low

and run the following command:

$ debian/rules debian/control

Now you're all set. You can build the package the usual way.

Note there are a few differences between the xulrunner packages you get from building Iceweasel vs. from building Firefox that need to be addressed, and a few other details to sort out.

2012-12-29 11:00:21+0900

firefox

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One Response to “Firefox in Debian?”

  1. Anonymous Says:

    Awesome, thanks!

    How do you plan to (eventually) handle these packages in Debian? Do you plan to build separate “firefox” and “iceweasel” packages, with and without the branding, or do you plan to ditch the “iceweasel” packages? Does the trademark license allow redistribution of the source packages without restriction, allowing those sources to remain in main? Will the “firefox” binary packages go to non-free, since they definitely fall in the “take care before redistributing” category?