The Firemonger Project

IZ Reloaded writes "The Firemonger Project is an attempt to create a multilingual easy-to-use compilation CD with Firefox, Thunderbird and an excellent selection of plugins (Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Shockwave and Sun Java), extensions (Adblock, Googlebar, Hotmail tabs, SessionSaver, ScrapBook and more), Firefox and Thunderbird themes, related programs (Firetune and Backupfox) and a comprehensive beginner's guide. Everything you need to start up with and get the most out of Firefox and Thunderbird. There's also a lite version for download."

Comments

This is a great strategy!

[michaelzhao]

Although Firefox is meant to be liteweight, there are some people on this planet that don't use it because it is too lightweight. Enter my grandparents. Old Chinese folk with no knowledge of computers. They don't know how to download extentions, definitely don't know how to download and install Thunderbird. Suites like this make their life easier. My life will be eased as well because I won't have to tell them how to download everything over the phone.

This is a great piece of software.

Re:What?

[MaestroSartori]

Interestingly, a quick straw poll of ~30 or so programmers here in the office reveals no-one that had heard of it. So I'd say it's a fair bet that it's not *that* widely known...

More to the point, it's a decent idea. Firefox isn't hard to install, but why not make packaged versions with all the handy things in it? Thanks for the links to those other two, I'll have a longer look at all three of these options later :)

Re:licenses???

[Florian Weimer]

no linux distribution on earth includes those plugins, how are they getting away with it?

Sun's Java license forbids distribution together with competing technology, like the GNU Compiler Collection. For obvious reasons, most GNU/Linux distributions choose GCC over Java.

Re:I think you're missing something.

[value_added]

It could be the folks at the Firemonger Project are also missing something.

The extensions listed as Most Popular on the Firefox page aren't necessarily included. To wit:

FlashGot (yes)
CustomizeGoogle (NO)
NoScript (NO)
Tabbrowser Preferences (yes)
Adblock (yes)
Forecastfox (yes)
IE View (yes)
PDF Download (NO)
StumbleUpon (yes)
Gmail Notifier (NO)

Firemonger stats

[dlichterman]

Hey this is Daniel, one of the origional helpers in the Firemonger project. If you would like to see some stats on hits.....heres a link!
http://my.statcounter.com/project/standard/stats.p hp?project_id=444253&guest=1

Re:licenses???

[bgramkow]

If this trend continues with other open source software Linux could gain a serious foothold. Another /. post commented that what linux really needs is applications to rival windows compatible apps. (sorry, couldn't find the link) I agree, and if this is true then open source software like firefox/thunderbird (that can easily be dl'ed for linux) gaining popularity over MS versions will someday lead to "average" user realizing: 'hey, I all the apps I'm using are available for any FREE linux OS I choose.' Then on that magical day, linux will rule the world and we'll all live happily ever after.

Customized installations

[snib]

I personally prefer FFDeploy (http://home.comcast.net/~ifrit/FFDeploy.html), even though it hasn't been updated in months, I believe it still works. It allows you to pick your own extensions and settings, and it's easy enough to burn them to a CD.