Default browser may not be default

[Member DaveW]

I am running Antix 17 (32 bit), on 3 computers.
When I click a link in an email (with no browser open), nothing happens. (However, on one of the computers, SpaceFM would sometimes open in response to the clicked link, and then would refuse to shut down. That seems to have resolved itself.)

The default browser in Control Center – Preferred Applications is Firefox-ESR.desktop.
When that browser has already been opened (eg., by clicking “Web Browser” on the Menu list, clicking a link in an email brings up a dialog box: “Firefox is not default browser. Make it default?” After doing so, the link URL loads (sometimes multiple copies, because the link was clicked several times. Then, depending on which email program is being used, subsequent clicked links may open normally… or may not. (Usually okay from Claws Mail. But from Thunderbird, the Firefox default question box pops up again.)

Although Antix seems to think Firefox is the default browser, Firefox does not seem to know it.

I tried making SeaMonkey the default browser with similar results (from external email programs). The SeaMonkey browser responds quickly to any links from the SeaMonkey email client.

What am I missing?

I suppose, the easy fix would be to use SeaMonkey for both browser and email. But my impression is that SeaMonkey lags behind Firefox for security updates, etc. On the other hand, perhaps uninstalling SeaMonkey would remove a potential conflict.

[Member Xecure]

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Hello, DaveW

DaveW wrote:

The default browser in Control Center – Preferred Applications is Firefox-ESR.desktop.
When that browser has already been opened (eg., by clicking “Web Browser” on the Menu list, clicking a link in an email brings up a dialog box: “Firefox is not default browser. Make it default?” After doing so, the link URL loads (sometimes multiple copies, because the link was clicked several times. Then, depending on which email program is being used, subsequent clicked links may open normally… or may not. (Usually okay from Claws Mail. But from Thunderbird, the Firefox default question box pops up again.)

I may be mistaken, but I believe that some applications will use other defaults than the ones set by Prefered Applications. antiX also brings a tool to configure such defaults, go to
Control Center > System > Alternatives Configurator

There, navigate to:
gnome-www-browser and make sure that Firefox-esr is selected.
x-www-browser and make sure that Firefox-esr is selected.
Then you can exit the Alternatives COnfigurator app (changes should take place inmediatly. If not, try rebooting).

You could also set them through the terminal:
update-alternatives --config gnome-www-browser
update-alternatives --config x-www-browser

Also, make sure that the email client doesn’t have its own default (go to Configuration or Properties in your email client and see if there is an option for how links are opened. If it is not set to Default, or that option isn’t there, select Firefox-esr).

Let us know if this helps.

EDIT: It seems you are not the only one that has had problems with Thunderbird. manyroads’ answer may help you:

How To Get Thunderbird To Open Web Links In Default Browser
https://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1391

https://www.lifewire.com/change-the-default-browser-in-thunderbird-2532751

Go to Thunderbird Menu: Edit–>Preferences

Click Config Editor
Search for the following 3 entries:
network.protocol-handler.warn-external.http
network.protocol-handler.warn-external.https
network.protocol-handler.warn-external.ftp
and double click to true.

$ sudo update-alternatives --config x-www-browser

• This reply was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by Xecure. Reason: More info for doing it through the terminal
• This reply was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by Xecure. Reason: Adding MX link and manyroads quote

antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.

[Member DaveW]

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Xecure,
Thank you for the above tips.
In C.C. – System – Alternatives Configurator, I found and updated three entries, adding Firefox-ESR to gnome-www-browser,
x-www-browser, and also www-browser. I did it one at at time, just to see what would happen. All three were needed.

Now, all works well… but Firefox must be manually started before clicking any link in Thunderbird. If a link is clicked, before opening the browser, the previously noted symptoms still occur.

After doing the above, I found your edit with Thunderbird specific info. You had suggested that the email client might need to be directed to a browser. But finding where to do that was not very intuitive. I’ll report back after checking that out.

Thank you!

[Member Xecure]

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DaveW wrote:

In C.C. – System – Alternatives Configurator, I found and updated three entries, adding Firefox-ESR to gnome-www-browser,
x-www-browser, and also www-browser. I did it one at at time, just to see what would happen. All three were needed.

Good to know something worked out!

DaveW wrote:

After doing the above, I found your edit with Thunderbird specific info. You had suggested that the email client might need to be directed to a browser. But finding where to do that was not very intuitive.

I am sorry you encountered trouble here. Hopefully what manyroads suggested is the correct path:

Go to Thunderbird Menu: Edit–>Preferences
Click Config Editor
Search for the following 3 entries:
network.protocol-handler.warn-external.http
network.protocol-handler.warn-external.https
network.protocol-handler.warn-external.ftp
and double click to true.

If this doesn’t work, maybe you may find something useful in the entire topic in the MX forum where they try to fix this issue:
https://forum.mxlinux.org/viewtopic.php?f=104&t=50761&hilit=thunderbird+links&start=20#p508954

Some people suggest a radical “solution”: purging Thunderbird, and the configuration files created by Thunderbird, and installing anew. I don’t believe it is the ideal option. Hopefully you find a better way.

Once you find a solution, report back so that others who experience a similar problem can make use of your experience.

antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.

[Member DaveW]

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Xecure,
I appreciate your suggestions and the additional research you did on this question. My searches were not as productive as yours.

The problem appears to be resolved now.
1. The main thing was to set all 3 browser settings in “System – Alternative Configurator” (as you suggested).
2. The second thing was to disable the Firefox default browser question box (uncheck ‘Always check if Firefox is default browser’ and respond “No” or “Not now” rather than “Make Firefox default browser.” (That is counter-intuitive. But saying “Yes, Make Firefox default” causes strange problems, as confirmed by the MXlinux forum article.)

The two sites which gave instructions for configuring Thunderbird, apparently apply to another version.
I went to Thunderbird Menu: “Edit–>Preferences”, but there was no “Config Editor” under any tab. One of the articles directed to “Edit->Preferences->Attachments” but there were no browsers shown in the list box, and I saw no way to populate the Content or Action columns.

While playing with the above, I discovered a Thunderbird “Add-on” called “Open With”. This is supposed to allow the user to direct email links to whatever browser the user chooses. However, after installing and configuring the add-on, I couldn’t see that it did anything. For example, I tried to designate SeaMonkey, but FireFox always opens (even after system restart). Perhaps, if I had not already revised the Alternatives Configurator, it might have done the job.

The MXlinux forum article had 9 pages of suggestions, including the two sites above. Some for specific systems. The symptoms described were just like mine. But there were several rabbit trails enroute to resolution. The comment about disabling and ignoring the Firefox default browser dialog box, came up very near the end.

Thanks for your help!

[Member Xecure]

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All good news! A pity you had to read the hole thread and work so much to get the difficult Thunderbird to listen to what you wanted it to do!

Thanks for coming back and explaining how you solved your problems. It may help others in the future.

antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.

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