Firefox 36 breaks Xubuntu 14.04, and how to fix it

Update (from Xubuntu change log):

Changes for firefox versions:
Installed version: 36.0+build2-0ubuntu0.14.04.4
Available version: 36.0.1+build2-0ubuntu0.14.04.1

Version 36.0.1+build2-0ubuntu0.14.04.1:

  * New upstream stable release (FIREFOX_36_0_1_BUILD2)
    - see LP: #1429115
    - revert removal of the deprecated -remote command line option, as some
      older software (eg, Python 2.7's webbrowser module) still depends on it
      (LP: #1425972)


Original Post:

In Xubuntu 14.04, the update that bumped Firefox to version 36 broke the ability to click a link in a message in Thunderbird and have the link open in Firefox. Instead Firefox would open, but on its default page. Mozilla helpfully documented that they dropped the highly obsolete -remote command line switch in this release, which previously provided a needlessly complicated way to tell Firefox what url to open.

How Thunderbird opens web links is pretty obscure. I don't think I ever messed with this before, which matters because how to fix it may depend on whether you were relying on defaults, or had messed with some setting in this area before.

Command line:
$ xdg-mime query default x-scheme-handler/http
exo-web-browser.desktop

Examining exo-web-browser.desktop in /usr/share/applications reveals that it runs a binary called exo-open. exo-open is an XFCE application, so it is safe to assume that it was last updated when dinosaurs walked the earth and should never ever be used for any purpose.

Command line:
$ xdg-mime default firefox.desktop x-scheme-handler/http
$ xdg-mime query default x-scheme-handler/http
firefox.desktop

And now clicking links in Thunderbird once more opens the links in Firefox, as it did before the update.

Revolution 2.0

I'm not dead yet, and neither is the resistance to the Wyverns in Wefrivain: Promotional Audio, Podcast Home Page.

Flash on old Athlons broken?

I think an update to the flash plug-in for Linux some time in the last few months broke it for most YouTube videos on some computers.
An old computer with an AMD Athlon CPU, running Lucid, some time since the start of 2012 lost the ability to play most youtube videos. A few would play, the rest just showed plain black rectangles with no controls or right-click menu (other than generic Firefox menu). Fresh install with Precise made no difference. Firefox, Chrome, made no difference. Chromium (closed source) browser, though, worked, with its built-in copy of Flash. Also, opting in to the HTML5 mode on www.youtube.com/htm5 and/or disabling Flash would make the videos play using the youtube/Firefox/html5 player mode (no Flash).

Also tried Puppy Slacko with SeaMonkey and Adobe Flash, same results as Ubuntu: no joy.

On other computers I use (running various Linuxen and the usual Flash), Flash plays everything it is supposed to as far as I can tell, same as always.

The Tourists are Fair Game Adjustment Review

And now, 3 reviews of not-so-recent movies.

The Tourist Rated: 4 /5 stars

This in many ways seems like a very old-fashioned movie: Movie Stars instead of Actors, Pretty European Architecture instead of Stunning CGI Effects, a Silly but Fun Fantasy Plot instead of Endless Machine-Gun Fire. I guess the reviews and box office show why they Don't Make Them Like This Any More, but still, it is well done for what it is, if you are in the mood for this sort of thing you will probably enjoy it.

Fair Game Rated: 4 / 5 stars

This movie really works as a political thriller. The one thing that kind of gets in the way of me enjoying this is that it is a true story, and I get mad and distracted thinking about how the scumbags who betrayed and defamed Wilson and Plame mostly got away with it. And there are still idiots running around repeating the lies as part of pretending the Iraq War was not a huge scam and a national disgrace.

The Adjustment Bureau Rated: 2 / 5 stars

This movie has only two kinds of scenes in it, both tedious.

1. Matt running away from Men in Hats, with or without Emily holding his hand.

2. Matt pretending to be a politician.

Two stars because of the automatic bonus star for pretending to base the film on a Philip K. Dick short story.

When Patents Attack!

People who should know better continue to parrot the myth that the Patent system benefits the "little guy" with the great idea, that it rewards innovation. In the real world it punishes real inventiveness and rewards mostly patent lawyers.

You don't believe it? Listen to this story from the This American Life radio show. Also read this The Economist blog commenting on a version of the story.

Think it is just software patents that are bad for innovation? What about patent drugs?

New recordings, new places

I added a blog at circumlunar.tumblr.com because it seems to be easier to post audio files / songs / mp3s there. Plus I guess it is trendy this month. Two songs there, more in the pipeline. I seem to be revisiting my 2003 collection Rituals and Reconciliations which was a CD-R album of raw demos of the songs I had written to that point.

I added one of the songs mentioned above to my Folk Alley page too. The other one is too rock-y for those folks.

Too much copyright equals book-burning?

Here is a thoughtful presentation on how over-extending the copyright system harms everyone, using Ray Bradbury’s 1953 classic book, Fahrenheit 451, as its incendiary starting point.