(PR#2275) Re: Bug#168259: r-base-core: help.start() assumes netscape is installed

[Dirk Eddelbuettel]

On Sat, Nov 09, 2002 at 10:01:52PM +0000, ripley@stats.ox.ac.uk wrote:
> On Sat, 9 Nov 2002, Dirk Eddelbuettel wrote:
> 
> > On Sat, Nov 09, 2002 at 09:17:47PM +0000, ripley@stats.ox.ac.uk wrote:
> > > > > and netscape no longer allows multiple executables to run.
> > > >
> > > > I just confirmed that mozilla does. E.g.
> > > >   mozilla http://bbc.com & sleep 3; mozilla -remote "openurl(http://cnn.com)"
> > > > happily switches the running session from the BBC to CNN.
> > >
> > > That's not running multiple executables: that is remote-controlling an
> > > existing one.  Not only that, the second command takes over any existing
> > > mozilla on the display, even one running on a completely different machine
> > > (e.g. a session on a remote Solaris box).  It's the last part that is
> > > fatal to the earlier help.start/help scheme.
> > >
> > > For me, on Linux, both Mozilla 1.1 and Netscape 7.0 refuse to allow me to
> > > run a new copy if one is already running.  This is an issue as the
> > > help.start/help interface tries to run a new copy if running R remotely.
> > >
> > > They do allow multiple invocations under Windows and seem only to run one
> > > copy.
> > >
> > > Try mozilla http://bbc.com & sleep 20; mozilla http://cnn.com.
> > > I get a dialog box telling me a copy is already running under my profile
> > > and refusing to allow me to run another one.
> >
> > This works for me! I get two distinct ;frames'. And "pstree -p" shows only
> > one main process with one child which has four other child processes.  So it
> > looks as if they are sharing.
> >
> > [ some more snooping ]
> >
> > Indeed. Once I start the 2nd one, ps show mozilla-remote as a parallel
> > process. This then seems to migrate into the earlier mozilla even when that
> > one was started in a different shell.  File->Quit also brings both frames to
> > an end.  mozilla-1.0.0 as in Debian testing.
> 
> That's what happened a year or so ago, and in Netscape 6.2.  But that is
> not the current mozilla release, if Debian use Mozilla's numbering scheme.

mozilla-1.1 is in Debian unstable. I run Debian testing into which packages
from unstable migrate after two weeks -- unless there are unmet
dependencies or bugs or ...   With something like gnome or mozilla the
migration is often delayed.

But if the feature is missing in 1.1, I am not sure I can do something
useful here. Too bad.

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