[gentoo-amd64] Re: Is it possible to get rid of firefox?

[Duncan]

Michael Moore <mikem.unet@×××××.com> posted
20081118170056.GC8575@×××××××.linwin, excerpted below, on  Tue, 18 Nov
2008 22:30:56 +0530:

> Indeed it doesn't. What i wanted to know was that can the bin package
> provide the files needed for the softwares to compile against? If not,
> then i guess i may have to stick with firefox lying around my sys.

The -bin package will be 32-bit.  64-bit packages don't like 32-bit 
libraries.  However, I'm not sure whether xulrunner is separately 
executable or works as a library.  If it's executable, the 32-bit may be 
just fine.  If it works as a library, no-go since that would be mixing 32-
bit libs in 64-bit apps and that won't work.  (FWIW xulrunner-1.9, for 
mozilla-firefox-3.x, has both binaries and shared-object libraries 
(.so*), but I'm not sure if the libraries are only used internally or 
not.)

FWIW, firefox-2 and the related gecko version is fast coming to the end 
of its mozilla support period.  Any products depending on them that 
aren't already moving to newer gecko dependencies have a relatively short 
life expectancy at this point.  Both thunderbird and seamonkey depend on 
them at present but have upgrades in the pipeline, altho there'll be a 
bit of a gap before full release.  For thunderbird, there's arrangements 
already in place to cover the gap, but seamonkey and others are up in the 
air at this point.

See the headlining feature article from the front page of the November 6, 
2008 LWN weekly edition, here: 

November 6 LWN Weekly Edition front page:
http://lwn.net/Articles/305169/

Article direct link:
The end of the Road for Firefox 2
http://lwn.net/Articles/306015/

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman