[SOLVED, Kinda, Sorta]: Browsers and E-Mail

[Salixified]

I don't think this is a SalixOS issue, really, but I can't guess why I never had these issues in my old distro. Perhaps it's some setting I can find and fix:

Midori was great for a week, then started freezing and crashing like it always has for me in every distro, so I wasn't really disappointed, expecting no less than what Midori has done in every distro I've used it on for 2 years. Replaced with Firefox. But Firefox refused to apply my font preferences, so I'm squinting and using magnifiers to see certain pages. And it won't communicate with Thunderbird either, which also refused to apply font settings. Click on a link in T-Bird and it should open Firefox and go there, but it won't. Have to copy and paste it into the browser. Check my settings... yes, my Preferred Applications settings in SalixOS 14 are set to FF and T-Bird, and both of them individually are selected as "default browser" and "default e-mail," yet they won't integrate. Enough of that, so uninstall all of that and throw on Opera, based on the great reviews it gets here in these forums.

No problem with browser and e-mail client "talking to one another," and it accepts my font preferences but refuses to retain them. I'm using Opera's built-in sliding zoom feature constantly on ever page I visit, and in every e-mail I select. Maddening. And it's slow! Really slow. Perhaps it's too much for this old Dell Dimension desktop with it's aging Celeron processor and scant 512 of RAM.

So now I'm on Seamonkey, which has always worked flawlessly on this computer no matter what distro. No problems with integration, font settings, nor speed. I can breathe again. But Seamonkey has some limitations (not showstoppers, just minor little stuff). I'm really curious why all this happened and why it seems to be unique to SalixOS, in my admittedly very limited experience (the 'buntus, Debian, PCLinuxOS, Mepis, Mint). Any ideas?

[knome]

Re Firefox fonts... have you tried setting a minimum font size?...

In Firefox go Edit > Preferences > Content > Fonts & Colors > Advanced > Minimum font size

[Salixified]

Re Firefox fonts... have you tried setting a minimum font size?...

In Firefox go Edit > Preferences > Content > Fonts & Colors > Advanced > Minimum font size

Yessir, in both Firefox and in Thunderbird. Minimum font size was set to 20. Thanks for your reply though. Seamonkey is working fine (and much faster than Opera, omygoodness!), so it's not a "problem" so much as a question: Why did these weird malfunctions only happen in Salix but not in the other distros I hopped about on before settling here? Just really curious if I have some settings or something I can adjust.

Thanks!

[ElderDryas]

Why did these weird malfunctions only happen in Salix but not in the other distros I hopped about on before settling here? Just really curious if I have some settings or something I can adjust.!

What happens if you take the ~/.mozilla (and ~/.thunderbird) from another distro (that is set up and works the way you want) and use it in Salix (I have transfered the same .mozilla/thunderbird folders on various versions and distros with no problems at all)

EDIT:
BTW, if you don't have these folders from other distros, you can always use another distro's Live CD, install (if necessary) and configure FF there, and then save the .mozilla to a USB/whatever and then drop it into Salix.

[Salixified]

What happens if you take the ~/.mozilla (and ~/.thunderbird) from another distro (that is set up and works the way you want) and use it in Salix (I have transfered the same .mozilla/thunderbird folders on various versions and distros with no problems at all) ... if you don't have these folders from other distros, you can always use another distro's Live CD, install (if necessary) and configure FF there, and then save the .mozilla to a USB/whatever and then drop it into Salix.

That's an interesting thought. I still have my old Xubuntu 12.04 LiveCD around here somewhere. When I'm not saddled with tons of schoolwork and chores around the farm I might try that. Would that help me (us?) discover why they're buggy only in Salix?

When I installed Salix on this computer I had it format my old /home partition so that my old Xubuntu settings and all the old application settings would not apply or conflict with any settings that Salix uses on a fresh install. Your procedure sounds like a good work-around but I'd rather learn what's different about Salix or what I may have done wrong. My "workaround" of just using Seamonkey is more than satisfactory.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply!

[mimosa]

Generally Midori seems to be pretty stable (and has ad blocking, which is a must for me). You shouldn' be having such problems and there is probably some reason for them. I'm on the road just now so can't look into it further but perhaps someone else will stop by in due course.

Meanwhile I hope you continue to enjoy Salix in general

[Salixified]

Yes, Mimosa, I loved Midori when it was flawless and quick. For a week it was a dream-come-true! Then, without any major updates to either the browser or the OS, it just, well, got slow and crashy. Even running Bleachbit didn't cure it. I wonder if it's just a hardware compatibility issue?

Still loving Salix,
Still delightfully "Salixified."