Updated: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 01:18:59 GMT

Compiling Mozilla from source

1. The first thing you will need is a source tarball from mozilla.org. You can find the latest and greatest (again, at the time of this writing) at:
   ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla/releases/

   Next, you'll want to grab some plugins. I've made the following plugins available from my site:

   Blackdown Java

   Blackdown is an implementation of Java that runs on Linux. It was recently voted as the "Best Java Implementation for Linux". Grab it: j2re-1.3.1-FCS-linux-i386.tar.bz2

   Macromedia Flash Player

   Does this really need a description? Grab it: flash_linux.tar.gz

   RealPlayer

   Streaming media player. You all know what it is. Grab it: rp8_linux20_libc6_i386_cs2.bin

   Adobe Acrobat

   View PDF files within your browser. Grab it: linux-ar-405.tar.gz

   Please note that I'm going to assume the following is installed on your Linux system already:

   • libjpeg (install notes)
   • libz/zlib (install notes)
   • libmng (install notes)
   • gtk+ (install notes)
   • Qt
2. Configuring Mozilla
   I configure Mozilla to use the QT toolkit by default. You might want to adjust this to your tastes. I also compile for a 686 CPU. You should change this to match your processor type.
   • tar zxvf mozilla-source-x.x.x.tar.gz
   • cd mozilla
   • ./configure --prefix=/opt/mozilla \
   • --with-x \
   • --with-pthreads \
   • --with-system-jpeg \
   • --with-system-zlib \
   • --with-system-mng \
   • --enable-toolkit-gtk \
   • --enable-toolkit-xlib \
   • --enable-toolkit-qt \
   • --with-qtdir=/usr/lib/qt2 \
   • --enable-xft \
   • --disable-debug \
   • --enable-crypto \
   • --enable-optimize='-O3 -march=i686 -mcpu=i686' \
   • --enable-reorder \
   • --enable-strip \
   • --enable-xterm-updates \
   • --enable-cpp-rtti \
   • --enable-cpp-exceptions \
   • --enable-default-toolkit=qt
3. Now we're ready to build. Since we need to build a "distribution" in order to install it ourselves, we need a couple of environment items set:
   • export MOZILLA_OFFICIAL=1
   • export BUILD_OFFICIAL=1
   
   Finally, the following command will produce us a browser. Run it and go do whatever it is you've been putting off doing. You're going to get a lot done waiting for this thing to compile!
   • make -f client.mk build
4. Now, we need to "get to the creamy middle" and get the stuff we don't need removed so we can keep the stuff we do need (when done compiling, my latest mozilla source folder was almost 500M). Again, within the mozilla source folder, type the following:
   • cd xpinstaller/packager
   • make
   
   This will create a tarball in /dist. You may then untar this anywhere you like to install Mozilla. I set mine up in /opt/mozilla, but you can put yours whereever you want. Being lazy, I then create a link in /usr/bin to the executable:
   • cd /opt
   • tar xvf /path/to/mozilla_source/dist/mozilla-x.x.x.tar.gz
   • ln -s /opt/mozilla/mozilla /usr/bin/mozilla
5. Okay, personally, I'd prefer to avoid using Java where possible, but there's a couple of sites I frequent that require it, so... Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your viewpoint, Blackdown is only available in binary format, so it's relatively easy to install. You simply untar the tarball you downloaded to the folder you want. It will create a j2re within. I wanted mine in /opt, so...
   • cd /opt
   • tar xvfI /some/path/j2re-1.3.1-FCS-linux-i386.tar.bz2
   You then need to add /bin to your path if you want to run Java programs directly. To use the Java plugin, simply create a symlink from it's home in the into the Mozilla plugins folder. In my case, Mozilla lives in /opt/mozilla, so:
   • cd /opt/mozilla/plugins
   • ln -s /opt/j2re1.3.1/plugin/i386/mozilla/javaplugin_oji.so
   
   You then need to restart your browser. The following page has some applets running, so it's a quick and easy test of a working plugin: http://java.sun.com/openstudio/index.html
6. Installing Flash player is really straightforward.
   • cd /opt
   • tar -xvzf /some/path/flash_linux.tar.gz
   • cd flash_linux
   • cp libflashplayer.so ShockwaveFlash.class /opt/mozilla/plugins
   
   Restart Mozilla. A good (and funny) test site is http://www.stileproject.com/britney.html. There are those who might consider that site offensive, so if you're easily offended, try with some other site. Personally, I think it's hillarious. :)
7. Another one I prefer not to install, as I think Real Player files are crap. But, if you want to keep up on the latest movie trailers... :) The file you downloaded is the installer, but you need to make it executable and execute that, so:
   • chmod u+x rp8_linux20_libc6_i386_cs2.bin
   • ./rp8_linux20_libc6_i386_cs2.bin
   It's your typical graphic installer, so click and choose the options you want. One caveat: pay attention, on one screen it sets the MIME type for MP3s to itself. If you have another MP3 player you prefer, make sure to deselect it.
8. Installing Adobe Acrobat is fairly simple as well.
   • tar -xvzf linux-ar-405.tar.gz
   • cd ILINXR.install
   • ./INSTALL
   This will run the install script which will propmt you for the final location to install Acrobat. After this runs, you should run the following command to create a link in your path to the acroread startup script (the recommended way to run the program directly:
   • ln -s /bin/acroread /usr/bin/acroread
   Finally, to make it available as a plugin...
   • cd /opt/mozilla/plugins
   ln -s /Browsers/intellinux/nppdf.so

That's it. You now have a modern, relatively stable browser which can handle most of the fluff webmasters today will throw at you.

As an added bonus, you can configure KDE/Konqueror to scan the Mozilla plug-in directory (/opt/mozilla/plugins) and you should be able to use the newly installed plugins with Konqueror!