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-   -   Is there a Mageia repository that includes a modern Firefox? (

Timothy Miller 04-21-2013 05:50 PM

Is there a Mageia repository that includes a modern Firefox?
So getting tired of not having the new features of Firefox 20 now that I'm getting used to them from every other OS I have. Is there a way other than a manual installation that I can get a modern version of Firefox and have it kept updated?

VoodooDali 04-21-2013 07:42 PM

Starting in Mageia 3, the "firefox-aurora" package in the Core repository should give you the latest stable release (currently 20).

The "firefox-beta" package will let you in on version 21. :) hope it helps.

Timothy Miller 04-21-2013 10:11 PM

Yes it does, since I'm getting ready to upgrade to 3 sometime this week. Just need to find the time to set down and run the upgrade. Thanks!

digigold 05-01-2013 12:07 AM

FWIW, I've had the best luck using the firefox-beta release channel in Cauldron. I believe VoodooDali may be mistaken, as Aurora has been the alpha release channel as far back as I can remembe. It is currently at v22.

So as of today (May 1st, 2013), the firefox release channels contain the following:
Stabile: v20
Beta: v21
Aurora (Alpha): v22

VoodooDali 05-01-2013 11:48 AM

I might have had that wrong; sorry. However, at the time of the initial writing, the "aurora" package in Mageia's repositories was using Firefox v. 20, and the "beta" package was using FF v. 21, while the simply "firefox" package was using the Extended Service Revision of FF v. 17.

VoodooDali 05-01-2013 02:36 PM

(May be some disparity in the naming conventions, between the FF releases and the Mageia repositories. Hm.) :/

digigold 05-03-2013 12:00 AM


Originally Posted by VoodooDali (Post 4942699)
...the simply "firefox" package was using the Extended Service Revision of FF v. 17.

Unless your rolling FF out in a comercial environment, I would stay clear of the ESR release channel. I am not at all a fan.

Timothy Miller 05-03-2013 11:59 PM

Ok, so got Mageia 3 rc installed. Firefox 17.0.5 is still the default. So...I tried firefox-aurora, and it gave me a choice of installing the BETA version even though it was listed as version 20. I just want to install a non-archaic released version of Firefox but don't want BETA there any way to do this without a manual installation? Or is Mageia just not going to be something I can use as an every day system?

Timothy Miller 05-04-2013 02:02 AM

Ok, installed firefox-aurora. It's not Firefox current. It's the ALPHA release of current (20.0a2 at this moment), and so doesn't work with many plugins. So my original question still unfortunately stands. Is there any way to get a repository that has the CURRENT, RELEASE version of Firefox, not an alpha, beta, or a moldy oldy?

VoodooDali 05-04-2013 11:35 AM

I'll ask around and see what I can find, but it may be difficult to get answers this weekend as the Mageia servers are undergoing maintenance.

I'm sorry to have given you a bum steer, and I want to make this right for you. :(

Timothy Miller 05-04-2013 11:49 AM

I'm not opposed to adding 3rd party repos, I just want a stable version of my personal favorite browser. I really like Mageia, but honestly, not having my personal favorite browser with a current version without doing a manual install is to me a deal-breaker. I know it sounds whiny, but I choose distros based on small things like that. WHy I love Debian as my main repo. Add Liquorix sources (modern kernels), add experimental repos (modern firefox and thunderbird), add deb-multimedia repos (modern multimedia programs), and it's awesome. Mageia seems to make a lot of that more simple since it's got modern stuff in MOST of the repos, but the whole defaults to an archaic browser with no ability to get a stable modern browser is a killer to me.

That and for whatever reason if aurora WAS the stable version, it also for some odd reason depends on the firefox-beta version, which I have no desire to have installed. Not sure why the devs decided to reuquire the beta for it, that simply makes no sense.

snowpine 05-04-2013 11:58 AM

Here is the magical website where you can always find the latest Firefox:

FF 17 was released less than 6 months ago and is 100% fully currently supported. If that's your definition of "archaic" then what does that make me? ;)

I'll never understand the mentality that not having everything spoon-fed would be a "deal-breaker." That's a very "Windows way" of thinking about things, IMHO. :( Open source means empowering the user to be in control of their system! :)

Timothy Miller 05-04-2013 12:26 PM

Yes, and IMO, I'd rather use a distro that has a REPOSITORY with the latest version of something is better than installing manually. It's not spoon fed, I'm simply asking if there is a repository somewhere. If there isn't, I'll simply move on and put Mageia on my list of "decent OS, but too much work for my tastes to have it working the way I want". If I wanted to install everything manually, I'd run LFS. There's a reason I run only distros that have good package managers, and good repositories available. I don't WANT to do everything manually, that's one of the reasons to NOT run windows.

So no, wanting an os that has a repository that has the software in it that I want to use is most definitely a linux way of thinking about things. The Windows way is manually installing anything that isn't available preinstalled. On of my primary reasons after being open source for running linux is having an up to date OS. There's a reason I don't care for RHEL, or CentOS, or Debian "stable". The software is simply old. I like latest and greatest STABLE versions of software. Having a 4 version old browser isn't up to date to me. It's archaic.

VoodooDali 05-04-2013 01:37 PM

Well, snowpine beat me to the answer, but indeed it turns out the way to get the latest non-beta FF is to manually install. :( very sorry for the incorrect info I gave out at first.

That being said, I am having a very good run with the v.21 beta...

Timothy Miller 05-04-2013 02:09 PM

Bummer, I liked Mageia other than that. Thanks for the clarification that noone has created a 3rd party repo.
