[CALUG] Plugins for firefox?

[Keith]

On 1/30/07, Edward D. Browne <Browne at t-online.de> wrote:
>
>
> Is it just me, or is there something brain-dead about this whole browser
> plugin thing?  Using Firefox 2.0.0.1 (but I think this happens with
> all/most
> browser/version), I'm sure you've all had this experience, for certain
> spots
> in certain webpages where you don't have the needed plugin, it shows you
> the
> little green jigsaw puzzle piece.  If you click on it, it claims to go
> looking
> for plugins to install.  But it doesn't seem to have any way of knowing
> the plugin that's needed *for that web page* (although it does waste your
> time finding other, unrelated plugins, which it usually is not able to
> install
> automatically anyway.)  Sorta the web-browser equivalent of the (from the
> old Unix 'fortune') car with the single red idiot light with a question
> mark, the
> point being, when it lights up, anyone who knows his car will know what
> it's
> trying to tell you.  Even if I ignore this useless feature - how do I
> find out
> what plugin I do need (other than poring over the HTML source, which may
> not even be decipherable by me)?  I see the option in "about:" where I
> can stop
> it from prompting me for plugins to download, but how about the option
> where
> it tells me what plugin is needed?
>
> Thanks - Ed
>
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For me, clicking on the "green puzzle piece" usually brought up a wizard
that tries to find the needed plugin and install it for you. For the Flash
player, this has worked for me automatically with no problem. Quicktime and
Realplayer are another thing. But, the wizard has usually told me what the
plug is, it just fails to install it.

For Windows, I typically manually install the Quicktime Alternative and
Realplayer Alternative to avoid all the extra crap the "official" players
bring along. Having those three (flash, quicktime, real) installed has
pretty much taken care of what's needed for all my browsing needs.

Quicktime Alternative -
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/QuickTime_Alternative.htm
Realplayer Alternative -
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm

For Linux, I compile and install mplayer with the essentials codec pack.
Then I install the mozilla/firefox mplayer plugin. That's worked like a
charm for me on many installs.

http://www.mplayerhq.hu/
http://mplayerplug-in.sourceforge.net/

Keith

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