In Bug 1697800 Seth Arnold points out that the upgrade tools are not in
a position to check architecture features before installation. While I
don't know the best (least worst?) solution, here are some ideas.
Option A) Compile the SSE2 parts of Firefox in a separate library and
place it in /usr/lib/sse2/. I have read that the Linux kernel already
searches that directory first on processors that support that feature. A
solution using libraries would make sense as it's how we already handle
similar situations of binaries that only work on certain types of
hardware (e.g., graphics cards, 32bit/64bit). This might require working
with the Mozilla folks to convince them to isolate the code.
Option B) Create a new package "firefox-i686" (for processors without
SSE2), rename the current firefox to "firefox-i786", and then make
"firefox" a meta-package that picks the right one. I don't know enough
about meta-packages to know if this is actually feasible.
Option C) Create a new dpkg architecture "i686" which will only contain
binaries that can actually run on 686 class processors. Rename "i386" to
"i786" to reflect reality. While tedious to implement and perhaps a
redundant use of disk space for 99.9% of the binaries, it is fairly
straightforward to do and is perhaps the "correct" solution.
Option D) Add a new APT repository such as "xenial-i686". This is
similar to (c) but lazier. The xenial-i686 repository would contain very
few programs, just the ones, like Firefox, that had to be compiled
differently than the ones already supplied in the standard repository.
This has the downside that there is no way to indicate to the end user
when a package is not available at all for the i686. It is also perhaps
a misuse of repositories when that's what architectures are for.
Option E) Bite the bullet and rewrite the package tools to handle ABIs
that are nearly, but not quite, identical. This would be handy as we
approach programs that require SSE3, SSE4, SSE4.1, etc. I don't know
what this would look like, but I presume it'd require a lot of
discussion first.
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1698501
Title:
Please package a version of Firefox without SSE2
Status in firefox package in Ubuntu:
New
Bug description:
As has been noted in Bug 1697800, Firefox now dies on machines which
Ubuntu still supports (i686). This is a critical problem as Firefox
was the only modern web browser that did not require the SSE2
extensions and Ubuntu has committed to long term support for machines
without SSE2.
While Bug 1697800 is dealing with the urgent matter of Ubuntu systems
breaking right now, I'm filing this bug to request a long term
solution. According to Mozilla's Support page
(https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/your-hardware-no-longer-
supported):
"The processor requirements of Firefox as distributed by Linux
distributions may differ from the processor requirements of Firefox as
distributed by Mozilla, so you may be able to obtain an up-to-date
version of Firefox that does not require SSE2 from your Linux
distribution."
I don't know how hard this would be, but could the Ubuntu-Mozilla Team
please look into compiling a version of Firefox that does not require
SSE2?
Thank you.
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