Rolling Out Mozilla in an Organization?

jdclucidly asks: "I am a network administrator for a small non-profit (about 50 employees). I would like to roll Mozilla 1.2.1 out to all of our desktops. We don't have a single ghost image because the computers on site are too varied. Yes, I did my Googling. The source for the installer is just huge and mind boggling. Is there something like a Mozilla Administration Kit that will generate custom Mozilla installers? If not, would people on Slashdot be interested in starting a new project to make such a kit?" If you were going to deploy a "branded" version of Mozilla, company-wide, how would you do it, especially if you had to worry about a mixed OS environment?

"Here's what I want to do:

• Install everything but Quality Feedback Agent
• Set Mozilla as the default browser
• Disable 'Open Unrequested Windows' (kill pop-ups)
• Install Elveraldo's Crystal-Classic theme as default
• Set Google as the default search engine
• Set 'Georgia' as the default Serif font for Western and Unicode
• Enable HTTP Pipelining
• Enable FIPS internal cryptography
• Set toolbar to 'Pictures only'
• Set Home Page to my organization's intranet site
• Set start page to 'Blank page'
• Disable 'Hide the tab bar'
• Enable Middle-click for new tab
• Enable control+enter for new tab
• Default downloads to 'open a progress dialog'
• Disable Javascript and Plugins for Mail & News
• Enable quicklaunch
• Create an additional shortcut on the desktop and in quicklaunch that uses chrome/icons/mailnew.ico as it's source and points to 'mozilla.exe -mail'

As you can imagine, doing this on 50 computers (and making sure I got each of these) would be quite tedious. Are, there others out there that want to do the same thing. I checked the Mozilla newgroups. I checked the CCK Project page at Mozilla.org -- it appears to be pretty inactive. I checked out the Netscape 7 CCK, which is pretty robust but doesn't do everything I want and it's proprietary -- plus, I don't want all the NS7 proprietary crap on my network.

I installed Mozilla on my machine using the stub installer and had it save all of the .XPI components to a folder. I went in and extracted the .XPI's and examined them. It seems possible to do these things but not without learning XUL, JavaScript, XML and Mozilla.org's own stuffings -- not to mention setting up a Visual C++/Cygwin compiling farm for every next Mozilla release. Can I:

• Directly modify the defaults/prefs/all.js file to incorporate my preference defaults above and then recompress the .XPI?
• Add to the installer Crystal-Classic.jar somehow? Where are those changes made?
• Make the installer NOT allow the user to change any of this?
• Make the installer create the above mentioned shortcut?"

Comments

holy carp!

[Anonymous Coward]

This post is frosty!

A rolled out Mozilla package

[Anonymous Coward]

Helped me get FP! So fast, Mozirra!

first

[Anonymous Coward]

post ?
wow........

NFC Champsionship Game Thread

[Amsterdam Vallon]

Here's what I want to do:

Leave all the Eagles & their coaches inside the Vet

Let it all crumble to the ground

Re:NFC Champsionship Game Thread

[SlashdotLemming]

Wait, save a seat for Dewayne Washington!!

Re:NFC Champsionship Game Thread

[wtmcgee]

GO BUCS!!!!

27-10

Re:NFC Champsionship Game Thread

[1nfern0]

just call me before you do, i gotta watch. although im 20 bucks short of a bus ticket now. thanks a lot mr throw-an-interception-after-the-only-productive-dr ive-of -the-game-when-you-really-needed-it mcnabb

Re:NFC Champsionship Game Thread

[Anonymous Coward]

GOOOOOOOOOOO BUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuUUUUUUCSSSsssssSSS!!!

The pirate battle awaits.

First post?

[Anonymous Coward]

no message

FP

[Anonymous Coward]

FP

hey i'm first

[Anonymous Coward]

hey i'm first!

Here's something that does what you want

[Anonymous Coward]

Totally free, too!

Don't use Mozilla

[Amsterdam Vallon]

I would use its leaner & meaner cousin, Phoenix.

Phoenix is a redesign of the Mozilla browser component, similar to Galeon, K-Meleon and Chimera, but written using the XUL user interface language and designed to be cross-platform.

I've heard nothing but good things about it, and you could even just leave a public folder with the executable in it and let everyone browse with ease.

Nothing beats a small lightweight browser that features tabbed browsing and automatic pop-up window blocking. IE can't come close, and your employees will thank you!

Re:Dear Sir or Madam

[trans_err]

I regret to inform you that other then being a complete idiot, you were not first.

Doing it with IE

[t0qer]

Ya I know, it isn't mozilla but here's how you do it with IE.

Download the
Internet Explorer administrator kit IEAK

Customize it how you want, build the .exe, then you can either have the users
install it from a share or use software group policies to push it out to the
clients (if they're running win2k+) You can customize everything, from the
little spinny icon to the graphics used for the buttons.

The only thing that costs money in that solution is a MS server (if you do a
push install), other than that IEAK is free.

Did someone say...

[MattCohn.com]

OPERA?!?! Here's another chance to plug my favorate browser...

The Opera Composer allows sysadmins such as yourself to make a custom installer with almost all the features you wanted. That, and you get pretty much everything you need with the newest Opera 7 (MUCH better CSS and general everything complience).

Try it out, you might just want Opera instead of Mozilla.