FIrefox-KDE-Support

Firefox-KDE-Support

Overview

So if you are using KDE and running Firefox, and if you haven't been using the extra-functionality of "Firefox-KDE-Support", you are really missing out. This modifications make use of the truly excellent KDE/QT file-selector dialogs, among some other more under-the-hood changes.

In fact, the KDE/QT file-selector is hands-down the best file open/save dialog in the world, bar none. After using this, I really can never go back to using the GTK file open dialogs for frequent intense use.

(Opinion: I save a ton of files in my browser every day. In my opinion, the GTK file dialog is  just broken on a few key features, like hover previews for images, and auto-highlighting existing filenames in current directory. Small features, yes, but I use them literally every day many times a day.)

Ubuntu/Kubuntu version 11.10 and prior

In Ubuntu/Kubuntu version 11.10 and prior, simply install the package 'firefox-kde-support', restart your firefox and you will be good to go.

Ubuntu/Kubuntu version 12.04 and later

Sadly Kubuntu dropped their Firefox-KDE-Support package. But fear not! I have a solution for you. (though I didn't make it. I'm just passing it along!)

Background on why it was dropped

Concerning the information about the dropping, I know why the support is being dropped and though it saddens me I don't blame the maintainer. Mostly it was a fair bit of work and he didn't want to commit to doing it again for another five-years to coincide with the Ubuntu ultra-longterm release of 12.04. (In fact, on the Phoronix forums thread for the issue, I'm a little ashamed of the rude comments from some people, and I shake my head at some of the kooks who can't live with software where they "didn't compile every byte themselves." Yes, that's an exact quote from a few... sigh. These people are why Linux sometimes gets bad Public Reputations. But I digress.)

Firefox KDE Support for Ubuntu/Kubuntu 12.04 and later

Some awesomely helpful soul has created a version of Firefox with the KDE support bundled right in and created a PPA for the files. Here is the original post from the awesome contributor found on the Kubuntu forums:

I've uploaded both kmozillahelper (firefox-kde-support) and firefox 12 / firefox 13 with KDE patches re-enabled here:

https://launchpad.net/~alexey-ivanov/+archive/firefox-kde

It should be built in couple hours so you can try it if you want.
Tested both packages and everything is working - plasma notifications, file associations, and KDE dialogs

That link again: https://launchpad.net/~alexey-ivanov/+archive/firefox-kde

Some useful links

Here is the link to where I believe the source code for the modifications in Firefox are. This is mostly just here for reference.
https://github.com/blue-shell/firefox-kde-support
https://gitorious.org/firefox-kde-opensuse