- I'll present this how-to by using references to my actual file system. Your's will most likely be different, you will need to make appropriate adjustments.
Here is a brief general description of my Linux filesystem:
- hda6 is Linux ext3
hda7 is Linux ext3
Vector is installed on hda7
Puppy is installed as an Option 1 install on hda6, sharing the same filesystem with Suse. I manually copied vmlinuz, image.gz and usr_cram.fs to the root of hda6. I then setup GRUB to load Puppy from on that partition. The first time it runs it will create pup001 - the user file.
There are no file naming conflicts between Puppy Linux and Suse. Because of this, it is entirely feasible to install Puppy with an Option 1 install on the same partition as another existing Linux. - hda6 is Linux ext3
- The Puppy version I'm using is 1.0.3 with Mozilla already installed. I like Mozilla very much, and want to use it. There is a little problem with Puppy's Mozilla release, the option to block off-site images doesn't work. I like that option, because it blocks most advertisments. For this reason, I install the standard version of Mozilla version 1.78.
Mozilla's new installation location is /mnt/home/shared/mozilla
After installing this Mozilla, I have two Mozilla releases installed on the system. Puppy may call up the orginal version, rather than the new version on some occasions. I think you might want to search /usr/local/bin for files such as: moz* firefox, dillo, links. Make the necessary adjustments with the symlinks, scripts or delete some files - whatever you think best. Or don't worry about it.
When you call Mozilla with your short-cuts or menu items you've adjusted, the Mozilla you installed will run.
I'll leave it to you if you want to delete Puppy's version of Mozilla, in the event you install another version. I've done it with no problem for me.
I'm not sure why Barry K uses this version. I think it is because the libraries in it support some other applications.
There may be some Puppy Mozilla plugins you wish to locate and transfer to your new installations of firefox and mozilla.
Note: There is undoubtedly an optimal way to make an install of version 1.78 and clean removal of the 1.8.2xx with the bug. I'll try and make a complete step by step how-to, using a fresh Puppy install, on one subject of replacing Mozilla rather than just adding it.
One other thing I like about the 1.7.8 is the html composer has a spell-checker
- I will install the current release of Firefox downloaded from www.mozilla.org into this directory:
- /mnt/home/shared/firefox
- Both of these applications store the user data and configuration files in this hidden directory:
- /root/.mozilla
I then make a directory called:
- /mnt/home/shared/.mozilla
Most important is to link to the actual directory.
- # ln -s /mnt/home/shared/.mozilla /root/.mozilla
I generally run these apps from Bash with aliases.
- alias moz='/mnt/home/shared/mozilla/mozilla &'
alias fox='/mnt/home/shared/firefox/firefox &'
One can do as one wishes to run these apps. Whatever suits your preferences.
- I download the current standard Thunderbird release from www.mozilla.org and install it in:
/mnt/home/shared/thunderbird
I also makedir /mnt/home/shared/.thunderbird
I create a symlink as follows:
- # ln -s /mnt/home/shared/.thunderbird /root/.thunderbird
You will need to make menu items or desktop items for running Thunderbird. Remember that Firefox, the new Mozillz and Thunderbird are not in the path, you may want to create symlinks perhaps in /root/my-applications/bin and/or use absolute paths in order for your menu items to locate these applications.
- I've not done it. I do, however, expect the same principles would be involved as with Thunderbird and Mozilla.
- We now have three major applications installed outside pup001, yet entirely usable by Puppy. Also, the email and attachments are not being downloaded into pup001. The Mozilla and Firefox cache are being stored outside pup001.
- As mentioned earlier, Suse Linux is installed on the same partition with Puppy. When I boot Suse, the names of the locations will change. The locations do not change, only the path names will be as follows:
For the executables:
- /shared/firefox/firefox
/shared/mozilla/mozilla
/shared/thunderbird
- /shared/.firefox
/shared/.mozilla
/shared/.thunderbird
I run Suse as root, so I don't have problems with privileges.
From Suse, I need to make menu items, desktop shortcuts and/or aliases for running these applications at their appropriate locations.
I need to symlink the configuration files also, like I did in Puppy.
- # ln -s /shared/.firefox /root/.firefox
# ln -s /shared/.mozilla /root/.mozilla
# ln -s /shared/.thunderbird /root/.thunderbird
Any extensions or themes I've installed will also be the same.
I will also do the same with Vector Linux as I did with Puppy and Suse, except the partition will be different. Vector is on hda7.
I will need to mount hda6 in order for Vector to use these applications and configurations.
The path of 'shared' will be this:
- /mnt/hda6/shared
- /shared/firefox/firefox
- I will download and install OpenOffice.org version 1.14 in this location:
hda6/shared/OpenOffice.org
Refer to http://user-faq.openoffice.org/faq/index.html-toc.html for specifics, answers and general information.
Basically, what you do is download the OpenOffice1.1.4 tar.gz file and extract it. (tar -xvzf filename.tar.gz)
Change directory to the newly created one, and run this command:
./setupfilename -net (were 'setupfilename' is the name of the actual setup file)
The -net argument tells it you want OpenOffice shared. In my example, I would install it to hda6/shared/OpenOffice.org
On your system, you will need to determine the best place to your "shared" directory.
Setting up OpenOffice for each operating system differs considerably from the methods used with the Mozilla line of products.
You will want to boot each operating system and run this command:
/actual_location_of/OpenOffice.org/setup
This will run a program and setup the necessary OpenOffice.org auxiliary files in your home directory. It will use two or three megabytes for each setup.
Once OpenOffice is running, you can configure it to share common user directories, so that regardless of what OS you are running, your user files are easily accessible.
- From Puppy I move the /root/my-documents directory to /mnt/home/shared/myfiles
I then link to it appropriately, as in the examples above.
From the other Linux systems, I would setup the user documents directory to correspond with the same location.
- Performing this basic procedure is not difficult, and it makes life a lot easier when switching from one OS to another. It is also resourceful in terms of disk space.
If you only have Puppy installed, it could still worthwhile because you save hundreds of megabytes in your pup001 file.
I make regular backups of pup001 simply by copying it. It is much easier and more resourceful copy a 256 MB file than it is a 512 MB or larger sized file.
I hope the reader has enjoyed this article and found it worthwhile.