Hello,
this is my first topic here, so please excuse if newbie question or not at the right place.
I was wondering if one could give a portable firefox to people who don't have time/mood to download extensions, set the right options etc.. E.g. to get rid of gif and pageload animations, or have comfortable download addons like scrapbook, plus some theme for dark pages. Most people use Internet Explorer for it's simplicity, because it's already there on their computer, and Firefox in the download-version doesn't have adfree surfing.
So, at some point I got curious and just wanted to test this out, making something perhaps distributable. But I don't have any knowledge if the Mozilla or some addon licence would interfere with the idea, or if it's worth it/good enough.
would be great to get some feedback from more experienced users, how they like the idea (which I guess isn't new). you'll find my files here:
[Link removed by moderator JTH. File was removed from server by user.]
thanks in advance + kind regards
Joerg
PS: I don't have internet at home, reply from me might take a few days
here are some of the uncountable possible answers:
from license and technical aspect there won´t be many difficulties..., but
- the optimized browser - email client for almost everybody won´t come ever:
IE6 simple, but uh..., IE7 is simply there but far off being simple, firefox was intended as a lean, secure open browser everybody can configure just for the personal needs, opera comes with a lot of gimmicks builtin for convenience, seamonkey has email support ....
-some of the adds for firefox You suggested for builtin can´t work with relative paths (scrapbook!), others as noscript are very usefull, but sometimes a bit too restrictive (some pages won´t show up correct)
- a shortlist with suggestions for certain user profiles: shoppers, mass downloaders, gamers..etc should give an easy solution for newcomers, but someone has to update them and for my part, I use different addon profiles on local and portable firefox
- to be continued...
[Double post removed by moderator SL]
"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisici elit, sed eiusmod tempor incidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis .." Friday Next -
"May The Schwartz be with You!" Yogurt the Yoda
another issue. its illegal to redistribute it and keep the mozilla name and logos attached. while the project is open source, the name and logos are trademarked. John has special permission from them to distribute the PortableApps.com version and keep the names and logos in.
The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705
Unfortunately, it is not possible to do this in the way you suggest, within the terms of the Firefox / Thunderbird Licence.
Yon can not, under the licence, redistribute modified bundles unless you completely remove all of the branding and such. John, here at PortableApps, has obtained specific permission from Mozilla to redistribute the portablized version, but that does not extend to any further modifications so it.
If you are prepared to completely rebrand it, however, it does become perfectly acceptable. You can find an example of some re-packaged firefox-based bundles at http://www.frontmotion.com/ including MSI installers and custom bundle building systems. However, they're completely rebranded, which can cause its own unique type of confusion.
MODS: the link in the OP references a rebundled FFP / TBP fileset, with addons included, which, as I understand the licence, ought to be removed from the site.
thanks to all of you for the replies.
I wasn't sure about this kind of stupid idea (I mean, it really makes sence to keep the downloads small and let the users customize), but perhaps wasn't worthless to put this into discussion for others?
I would like to give it a new try the way you described, as soon as I'll get a stable wireless connection to the internet again. if someone reads this, who'd be interested -> perhaps we could do this together
kind regards
Joerg
"I wasn't sure about this kind of stupid idea"
Joerg,
It was not a stupid idea. It was a great idea.
It's just not allowed
The fact that something is not allowed does not make it dumb.
Welcome aboard
Tim
Things have got to get better, they can't get worse, or can they?
but I think he wouldn´t do so for keeping the files small. Your own compilation surely was illegal for distribution but not a dump idea. Perhaps You could post a list of Your "basic adds" for comment within the General discussion forum.
"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisici elit, sed eiusmod tempor incidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis .." Friday Next -
"May The Schwartz be with You!" Yogurt the Yoda
JTH was licensed to make Portable Firefox...
And, the link that was posted at the beginning of this thread is ilegal, it points to a customized distribution of Firefox that doesn't have Mozilla's permission, so please, remove it...
The list of Extensions is a better idea, and is not illegal but that link...
If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port,
and the bus is interrupted as a very last resort,
and the address of the memory makes your floppy disk abort,
then the socket packet pocket has an error to report
The link is dead, has been since this morning,
he killed it on the other end.
"This file has been deleted.
Reason: Deleted by uploader."
Please read the whole thread:
https://portableapps.com/node/11151#comment-64002
Tim
Things have got to get better, they can't get worse, or can they?
It was not stupid.
Too many lonely hearts in the real world
Too many bridges you can burn
Too many tables you can't turn
Don't wanna live my life in the real world
which is similar to what I have done for family and friends, I just use a "blank" copy of Firefox and Thunderbird with all of the personal profile files edited or removed (new ones are added automatically). I personally put it on their computers though and I set it up and show them how to use it (add bookmarks, change themes, protect/unprotect cookies, etc.). Is it possible to have a webpage with all of the download links for the firefox themes and extensions that you want to use all in one place so you can just click all of the install buttons or if "downthemall" works with that, even better, huh? THat way, you just restart, and you are ready to go. You would just need to instruct them on what settings to use.
Thanks for the friendly replies.