Firefox 5.0 and Thunderbird 3.1.10

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Sat, 25 Jun 2011 15:09:56 GMT  <== Computers ==> 

I decided this morning that I wanted to try out Firefox 5.0. No particular reason. I'm just a bleeding edge sorta guy. I found instructions for adding it to Synaptic in my Debian install, so I updated my /etc/apt/sources.list, did "apt-get update", started Synaptic, and double-clicked the Iceweasel (Debian uses that name to avoid trademark issues with the Firefox name) icon. Well, it required an upgrade to my Gnome desktop. So I took this as a sign that I haven't done a dist-upgrade in a long time: "init 1; aptitude dist-upgrade". 1500 packages, 1.2 gigabytes, and 3 hours later, I have an updated Debian Gnome system. Had to edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf to again disable my trackpad. Had to download the x86-64 Enigmail 1.1.2 build, since only the 32-bit build was known by Icedove (Thunderbird) 3.1.10, and it doesn't work on a 64-bit system. All else appears good, though I haven't tried everything yet.

Firefox 5.0 is definitely faster. Especially noticeable on script-heavy pages, like Gmail or Google Reader. And I like the new appearance. Haven't noticed any differences except the icon for Google Chrome, though it may also be a little faster, but I don't use Chrome as much as Firefox. Rhythmbox still plays my lossless tunes through my NuForce µDAC. And CCL and Emacs still work as usual.

I'm always a little hesitant to do a dist-upgrade, but I appear to have survived this one. /me is a happy camper.

Add comment Edit post Add post