Ubuntu
unity package

I have several different Firefox profiles and want different launcher icons own their associated windows

Asked by Dngrsone

As the subject line reads, I have a number of different profiles for the Firefox browser. Each profile has its own configuration, set of bookmarks and add-ons (or lack thereof).

I use each one in a different way.

I created a launcher for each profile which I have on the Unity bar. Each launcher has a unique name and icon, and I can and do run mulitple profiles at the same time using the --no-remote switch

Up until a recent update (Jun 12), I could launch an instance and the launcher would own that profile window. I could access the window from any desktop by hitting that particular launcher icon. Now, however, the main Firefox launcher takes ownership of all Firefox windows regardless of profile and I can't zip quickly between profiles.

I understand that making Firefox blind to windows on other desktop can be a desired feature, however, I would like to retain that ability-- at least be able to capture and own an instance with a separate launcher.

An example of my launcher code:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Icon[en_US]=/home/dngrsone/.icons/Daily.gif
Name[en_US]=Daily
Exec=firefox -no-remote -P Daily
Name=Daily
Icon=/home/dngrsone/.icons/Daily.gif

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Solved
For:
Ubuntu unity Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Solved by:
Mihai Capotă
Solved:
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
Dngrsone (dngrsone) said : 		#1

No responses?

Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) said : 		#2

This question was expired because it remained in the 'Open' state without activity for the last 15 days.

Revision history for this message
Dngrsone (dngrsone) said : 		#3

So, since no one can/will answer, I am stuck?

Revision history for this message
Shiraz Dindar (shiraz-v) said : 		#4

Same issue, since around the same date. Same before and after conditions.

Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) said : 		#5

This question was expired because it remained in the 'Open' state without activity for the last 15 days.

Revision history for this message
Shiraz Dindar (shiraz-v) said : 		#6

should this be changed to a bug report?

Revision history for this message
Dngrsone (dngrsone) said : 		#7

Good question. Some would call this expected behavior.

I posted here because thought that I might get some assistance on how to change things or work around the current state of affairs so that I could accomplish what I wanted to do.

Firefox Profiles are a powerful and under-used tool, yet it was never promoted, and has been languishing since v. 1... is it a bug that profiles aren't supported correctly by Unity, or is Unity just ignoring an apparently deprecated feature?

Revision history for this message
Shiraz Dindar (shiraz-v) said : 		#8

I would agree that Firefox profiles are underused but I wouldn't call them languishing and definitely not deprecated. They do what they do correctly and the feature is clearly documented by Mozilla, with no reference to deprecation that I've seen. If profiles haven't been further developed I would say it's because it's a simple feature that does not require further development.

That considered, and given that Unity once did handle separate profiles properly (though I do recall having to manually create a separate launcher for the 2nd profile), I would call this a Unity bug.

Unless there's something to show that FF profiles really are being depreated, I think I will create a bug report out of this ticket.

Let me know what you think. Thanks....

Revision history for this message
Dngrsone (dngrsone) said : 		#9

I concur, this is more properly a bug with Unity.

Revision history for this message
Roger Martin (rogerm4242) said : 		#10

I just ran into this problem, I think. Except in my case, other launchers would take ownership of the main Firefox profile window. My problem was solved by adding the following line to "usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop". All my other custom firefox profile launchers already contained this line.

StartupWMClass=Firefox

Revision history for this message
Dngrsone (dngrsone) said : 		#11

Thanks, Martin, I will try that out.

Revision history for this message
Best Mihai Capotă (mihaic) said : 		#12

You can use the --class foo option when starting the additional Firefox profiles and use StartupWMClass=foo in the desktop entry files to have the Unity launcher distinguish between various profiles.

Revision history for this message
Dngrsone (dngrsone) said : 		#13

I can verify it is fixed in Firefox 17 on Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit.
Example launcher code:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Icon[en_US]=/home/dngrsone/.icons/Daily.gif
Name[en_US]=Daily
Exec=firefox -no-remote --class Daily -P Daily
Name=Daily
Icon=/home/dngrsone/.icons/Daily.gif

Revision history for this message
Dngrsone (dngrsone) said : 		#14

Thanks Mihai Capotă, that solved my question.