http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html Once again I am trying my traditional attempt to switch from Opera to Firefox. Why is this a tradition now? It seems every time there is an update to Firefox, everyone goes on and on about how great it is and I attempt to try it out, only to be disappointed in the end. I think the disappointment isn't all of Firefox's fault. Some of it is that it doesn't quite have the power of Opera at first test, and at the same time it just wasn't what I was familiar with. Some things have changed though. I now use Firefox daily at work. So, I am now pretty familiar with the subtle differences in Firefox. But there are still so many things that I take for granted in Opera that aren't found in the standard default Firefox install. In the past I have tried to supplement this with the many extensions that are available. I think I have now found the right combination. Copyright 2003-2009 Cameron Bulock http://www.cbulock.com/cameron.jpg http://www.cbulock.com/ 87 95 en-us cbulock@cbulock.com 2009-01-03T17:14:09-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#c101 Currently I am using IE, as my Laptop had to get the hard drive replaced (now it runs great!). Anyways, I might stick with IE for a little while, because when I had firefox I was pissed whenever I went to download something (links wouldn't work and some of the ones which have "automatic downloading" -not a link but a script button wouldn't do anything) so I ended up w/ IE anyways. One thing I need to say for firefox is that it is a great browser, but it has a serious link problem, and as far as I am concerned that is one of the main functions of a browser. I hope version 1.0 fixes those annoying bugs. (oh yes, and they need a fast and easy way to go from tabs to standard windows like IE, which is nice for me because I like those and helps those who want to switch). -Neil Vitale 2004-09-28T21:13:52-05:00 http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#comments Neil http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#c102 An Opera Customer Relations person has responded to your comments in this blog right here: http://my.opera.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=700321#post700321 2004-10-01T15:16:25-05:00 http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#comments treego14 http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#c260 One extension that helps to tip the balance for me is NukeAnything: Right-click, select "Remove this object," and it disapppears from the page. It's great if you're trying to read an article that has a flashy pic or any other annoying thing right beside it. Opera does have the "Show Images" icon. (FF users can get variants of that via the Web Developer Toolbar, Tab Browser Extensions, or Show-Hide-Images.) But NukeAnything works with more that just pictures... and it's under 10k, IIRC. I agree that it can be a pain to keep upgrading extentions in addition to the browser. But I do like the idea that any and every neat idea can be added by any user who knows a bit of JavaScript. 2004-12-21T01:37:38-05:00 http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#comments rAS http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#c282 Export->Opera contacts..." in Opera) # from STDIN and writes an LDIF file to STDOUT, # which can be imported by Mozilla Thunderbird. # # usage: convert_contacts output.ldif $incontact = 0; $infolder = 0; $folderopen = 0; $name=''; $mail=''; @foldertext = (''); while (<>) { chop $_; if ($incontact == 1 || $infolder == 1) { if ($_ =~ /^\tNAME\=(.*)$/) { $name = $1; } elsif ($_ =~ /^\tMAIL\=(.*)$/) { $mail = "$1"; } } if ($_ eq '-') { print $foldertext[$folderopen]; print "\n"; $folderopen--; if ($folderopen < 0) { print "ERROR"; } } elsif ($_ eq "#CONTACT" || $_ eq "#FOLDER" || $_ eq "") { if ($incontact == 1) { &printcontact($name, $mail); $incontact=0; if ($folderopen) { $foldertext[$folderopen] .= "member: $name,mail=$mail\n"; } } if ($infolder == 1) { $foldertext[$folderopen] = "dn: cn=$name\nobjectclass: top\nobjectclass: groupOfNames\ncn: $name\n"; $infolder=0; } if ($_ eq "#CONTACT") { $incontact = 1; $name = ""; $mail = ""; } elsif ($_ eq "#FOLDER") { $infolder = 1; $name = ""; $folderopen++; } } } if ($incontact == 1) { &printcontact($name, $mail); $incontact=0; } if ($folderopen) { print $foldertext[$folderopen]; print "\n"; $infolder=0; } sub printcontact { $paramname = shift; $parammail = shift; print <<PRINTEND; dn: cn=$paramname,mail=$parammail objectclass: top objectclass: person objectclass: organizationalPerson objectclass: inetOrgPerson objectclass: mozillaAbPersonObsolete cn: $paramname mail: $parammail modifytimestamp: 0Z PRINTEND } sub printfolder { $paramname = shift; $parammembers = shift; print <<PRINTEND; dn: cn=$paramname objectclass: top objectclass: groupOfNames cn: $paramname $parammembers PRINTEND } ]]> 2004-12-26T20:05:26-05:00 http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#comments Robert Bamler http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#c283 Hey, thats pretty useful. I haven't really used Thunderbird much myself since I have just been using GMail recently, but I do have it installed so I could backup all my GMail to it. I'm sure someone will find this handy. 2004-12-26T20:40:58-05:00 http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#comments Cameron http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#c342 ) {". That's about line #20. 2. The comment at the beginning says that the script should be used like this: "convert_contacts output.ldif". This is wrong, of course. The actual usage is "./scriptname output.ldif". This means: - Export your opera contacts with "File->Export->Opera Contacts" to a file named "operacontacts.adr", located in a temporary directory. - Then copy the above script and paste it into a new file called "adr2ldif", located in the same temporary directory. - Replace the line "while () {" by "while (<>) {" and save the file. - Make the file executable (eg. by running "chmod u+x adr2ldif") - Run the following command: "./adr2ldif thunderbirdcontacts.ldif" - Import the file "thunderbirdcontacts.ldif" into Thunderbird. Sorry for this mess.]]> 2005-02-20T17:07:50-05:00 http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#comments Robert Bamler http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#c343 ) { line is correct.]]> 2005-02-20T18:16:16-05:00 http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#comments Cameron Bulock http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#c344 I tried running this script, but I get the error, "Can't open thunderbirdcontacts.ldif: No such file or directory at ./adr2ldif line 20." 2005-02-21T11:03:26-05:00 http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#comments Cameron http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#c458 I'm having the exact same problem as the user above :( 2005-03-21T02:20:24-05:00 http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#comments Dean http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#c3090 The script only works with Unix line ends. After converting "contacts.adr" to Unix text, run the script with: ./adr2ldif contacts.adr > contacts.ldif Thunderbird can import "contacts.ldif". I suppose this could be built in, but for a one-off it's not worth the effort. 2006-09-15T13:17:25-05:00 http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#comments Rich http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#c7734 Hi. The PERL script saved my live! As I am migrating from Unix to PC and had all my contacts (about 900) organized in lot of folders in Opera. Geting it in Firefox and organize it all again would heve taken enormous time. Thanks! 2007-02-01T11:50:12-05:00 http://www.cbulock.com/2004/09/switching_from_opera_to_firefox.html#comments Sverrir