UXP is ported to PowerPC Linux

[wicknix]

With the help from rpxrpx on the pale moon forum pointing me in the right direction i have successfully built the latest 28.4.1 release for 32-bit powerpc linux! I had to modify a bunch of makefiles and rip out all the sse2 and -m64 flags they tossed in. This release is on par with Firefox 60.9 esr in terms of browser engine. While i dearly love Arctic Fox, it was meant mainly for OS X 10.6 when the project started. Powerpc linux/bsd was just a bonus as it didn't require modifications. While Arctic Fox is a tad lighter on resources, this works well for those stubborn sites you run across that are too complex for AF's slightly older backend. I've only run across 1 big issue. They ripped out legacy support in some of the multimedia code, so there is no video playback on powerpc. You just get the youtube spinning circle. Web audio (sound cloud for example) works fine. As a work-a-round installing grease monkey with the viewtube script, and installing the vlc browser plugin works perfectly. At any rate, I'm stoked. Things are looking up for ppc linux.

Tested working on my mac mini g4 under lubuntu 16 (pure 32-bit kernel and userland)
Tested working on PMG5 under lubuntu 16 (64-bit kernel, 32-bit userland)

I built with their unofficial "NewMoon" branding, since well... powerpc isn't officially on their supported list.
Download here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jbUbRCj8saWN0knitjWkdV-r5zgnG_jm/view?usp=sharing
Modified source: https://github.com/wicknix/UXP4PPC32
The binary archive is the same type as Arctic Fox's. Just extract and run.

Cheers

 

[timidpimpin]

You're like a PowerPC superhero! I will check it out. Thanks!

 

[gsahli]

"Whoops - there was a problem with the preview."
(unable to download)

 

[wicknix]

Just click the blue download button under the "whoops".

 

[z970]

Amazing!

Will test as soon as I can.

 

[sparty411]

Wow, great job! This is easily the snappiest browser I've ever used on my Powerbook.

 

[z970]

Wow, great job! This is easily the snappiest browser I've ever used on my Powerbook.

Are you on Debian 8 or 16.04?

Currently trying to achieve functionality on Debian 8. libstdc++6 is a pain in my @$$.

 

[wicknix]

Yeah, it's pretty zippy.

@z970mp 16.04

 

[wicknix]

One is my precompiled binary archive. One is my modified source.

 

[sparty411]

Are you on Debian 8 or 16.04?

Currently trying to achieve functionality on Debian 8. libstdc++6 is a pain in my @$$.

I reinstalled 8, and did a full upgrade to 10. The first time I did a full upgrade, it borked. Chugging along happily now, with a backlit keyboard and all.

 

[sparty411]

I realized something interesting. Let's say you were to disable JS in a browser with an older layout engine, ok? It would be completely unusable. However, when disabling JS on browsers with newer rendering engines, web pages seem to format/render accurately for the most part. Of course, this breaks multimedia, but it makes surfing the web in general a far more tolerable (and ad-free!) experience on these old machines.

Death to Javascript.

 

[xeno74]

With the help from rpxrpx on the pale moon forum pointing me in the right direction i have successfully built the latest 28.4.1 release for 32-bit powerpc linux!

Great! Well done! Screenshot of PaleMoon 28.4.1 on ubuntu MATE 16.04.6 LTS PowerPC (A-EON X5000):

 

[dbdjre0143]

That is amazing work @wicknix! With all the progress that's been made as of late, I may end up dual-booting Linux on my G5 Quad when I finally get around to rebuilding the LCS...

 

[xeno74]

Pale Moon 28.4.1 on ubuntu MATE 16.04.6 LTS PowerPC (A-EON X1000):

 

[z970]

That is amazing work @wicknix! With all the progress that's been made as of late, I may end up dual-booting Linux on my G5 Quad when I finally get around to rebuilding the LCS...

Welcome to the Penguin Side.

May I recommend your first stop be The Linux Thread, when you're able to? It's designed for simplicity and comprehensiveness, after all.

 

[dbdjre0143]

Welcome to the Penguin Side.

May I recommend your first stop be The Linux Thread, when you're able to? It's designed for simplicity.

Of course will be using your awesome thread when the time comes! I'm no expert by any stretch but I'm not unfamiliar with the Penguin experience. I have a Debian 8 server running full-time on an iBook G4.

 

[swamprock]

Good stuff. Here it is running on my 1ghz TiBook under Debian sid-

It is a bit heavier than Arctic Fox with regards to CPU usage on this machine. I get 100% spikes and some freezing occasionally, depending on the site. It'll definitely come in handy on occasion. I'll have to give it a try on my G5 as well. Nice work!

 

[wicknix]

It is a bit heavier than Arctic Fox

Yeah, slightly. I don't notice it so much on my G5, but i do on the mac mini. I still use AF for general browsing as only a handful of websites give it the finger.

Cheers

 

[trevor12]

is it also for ibook g3 800 MHz ?

 

[timidpimpin]

is it also for ibook g3 800 MHz ?

If you read the OP it lists only being tested on G4 and G5, which both support Altivec, but a G3 doesn't. It would come down to whether it relies on Altivec or not.

No better way to find out than installing it to see for yourself. It won't cost you anything.

 

[eastone]

Oops, nevermind

 

[wicknix]

I've been a busy beaver. Here's another UXP based seamonkey-like browser and UXP based thunderbird-like mail/news/rss client for powerpc linux. More info here: https://github.com/wicknix/SpiderWeb/wiki/Download

Cheers

 

[z970]

I've been a busy beaver. Here's another UXP based seamonkey-like browser and UXP based thunderbird-like mail/news/rss client for powerpc linux. More info here: https://github.com/wicknix/SpiderWeb/wiki/Download

Cheers

You are awesome. Said it once, and will say it again, no problem.

This biker geek is awesome.

 

[sparty411]

The prodigal son has returned

 

[wicknix]

The prodigal son has returned

Lol. I wouldn't go that far. I'm just addicted to web browsers I guess.

Cheers