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. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1698501 Title: Please package a version of Firefox without SSE2 To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+bug/1698501/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
