FireFox and Linux. Behaving differently than WIN/MAC version. Need help.

[corinthos]

For the most part, FireFox for Linux is doing a good job for me and I don't miss the WIN/MAC browsers. I have noticed 2 problems, however, and would appreciate some help fixing them so that the Linux version will behave just like the WIN/MAC versions:

1. When visiting WSJ.COM the homepage has some tabs up top with text labels. Under
WIN/MAC FireFox, the text fits within the tabs as it should, but under the Linux version
one of the tabs has text that doesn't fit within the tab and therefore looks weird.

In FireFox, when I select to have the browser decide what fonts to use, things display
fine. But I'd like the view things as the site makers intended, so I don't like checking
that box.

I am guessing that perhaps WSJ.com is looking for a particular font it cannot find on
my system, and I think it could be Helvectica font. I have the MSCoreFonts installed
already. So I managed to get a hold of the Helvectica font and installed it, but it won't
show up in FireFox or anywhere else. I read somewhere that it may not work with
Linux FireFox.

If someone can help me figure out (a) how to get Helvectica recognized by FireFox
and (b) what the problem is with WSJ using FireFox Linux defaults that is causing it
not to display the homepage tabs (text within) correctly.

2. Another site where I've noticed some weirdness is MTV.com. There's a page where
you can view full episodes of their shows and when you hover over the SHOWS tab
a menu drops down with a list of shows you can click on. Under FireFox for WIN, it
drops down and is in the foreground so I can see the list. Under FireFox for Linux,
the drop down falls behind some other display, so I cannot see the list.

I'm not sure if this is an issue related to the Flash Player version used in Linux or
something else.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd appreciate some help with this as well.


Thanks in advance!

 

[mcv]

Are you by any chance using Ubuntu 6.06 or a Debian from around the same time? I noticed that Ubuntu's firefox renders differently than Windows firefox, and had crappy responsiveness to boot. I replaced it with the latest Firefox from the Mozilla website, and everything worked fine.

Problem is: Debian patches (or used to patch) Firefox in a way that Mozilla (probably with goood reason) disagreed with. Not sure how it ended, but I learned from this experience that If something doesn't work correctly, I'd better install it straight from the source.

 

[Nithin]

wow, thanks mcv. i've always been bothered by the slowness on ubuntu. downloaded from mozilla and it seems much faster.

 

[Nothinman]

You should probably file a bug report with Ubuntu then because if that is indeed caused by a patch they're applying I'm sure that's an unintended side effect.

 

[ethebubbeth]

Originally posted by: mcv
Problem is: Debian patches (or used to patch) Firefox in a way that Mozilla (probably with goood reason) disagreed with. Not sure how it ended, but I learned from this experience that If something doesn't work correctly, I'd better install it straight from the source.

Debian ended up having to make their own package and call it IceCat (formerly IceWeasle).

 

[ethebubbeth]

Originally posted by: Nithin
wow, thanks mcv. i've always been bothered by the slowness on ubuntu. downloaded from mozilla and it seems much faster.

Ubuntu has their own plugin for firefox called ubuntu extras or something of that nature. I'm wondering if performance improves if that is removed. I will have to try it on my laptop.