[sclug] sclug Digest, Vol 78, Issue 2

[Neil Haughton]

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Neil Haughton <haughtonomous at googlemail.com>
> To: sclug at sclug.org.uk
> Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 20:04:01 +0000
> Subject: [sclug] Debian/firefox issue
> Is there a Debian person out there who can advise?
>
> I have recently replaced Ubuntu with Debian Lenny. My wife doesn't like the
> default Iceweasel so I replaced it with Firefox 3.6. I did this by
> downloading the deb installer from Firefox and using the command dpkg -i
> <firefox....bz file> as root. I setup symlinks from the firefox plugins
> folder to the mozilla/plugins folder. Then I downloaded and installed the
> adobe flash plugin (the deb package) the same way. As root.
>
> Firefox generally works fine but there is an issue with the flash plugin.
> The issue is this:
>
> We have separate Gnome login accounts. If I login as myself, the adobe
> flash
> player plugin works seamlessly. That is to say anything on the page that
> requires flash "just works". However if my wife logs in to Gnome as
> herself,
> a page displayed in Firefox that requires the flash plugin does not work as
> expected. Some sites show a large arrow to click, the BBC complains that
> the
> plugin is incorrect. About:plugins lists the same flash plugins in both
> cases.
>
> Given that I installed Firefox as root, I am perplexed at this. Does anyone
> out there know what is going on?
>
> TIA
>
> Neil.
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Bo Hansen" <bohans at online.no>
> To: sclug at sclug.org.uk
> Date: Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:40:32 -0000
> Subject: Re: [sclug] Debian/firefox issue
> On Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:04:01 -0000, Neil Haughton <
> haughtonomous at googlemail.com> wrote:
>
>  Given that I installed Firefox as root, I am perplexed at this. Does
>> anyone
>> out there know what is going on?
>>
>
> File permissions?
>
>
>
No, not that. I figured it out in the end - there's a long meandering trail
of symlinks from /usr/lib/firefox/plugins culminating in the adobe
'alternative' plugin located at /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so
(it goes via, inter-alia, /etc/alternatives - I think the aim is to lose you
on the way :-) ). It turns out that this trail is intact for me, but logged
in as my wife it breaks and she ends up using another libflashplayer.so, the
one that doesn't work correctly. I copied the correct one into her
~/.mozilla/plugins folder to override the incorrect one (not sure exactly
where that is though) and it all works correctly. Sometime when I have the
mental energy I will map out the two symlink routes to see where it is going
wrong for her.

Who conceives these fiendish arrangements? :-)

Thanks for the input.

Neil