I’m happy to announce the release of FireBible 2.0; this version will work on Firefox versions 26 and up, on Windows and Linux. FireBible is now based on native libraries and http://marionjensen.com/2004/12 no longer requires Java; it’s much easier to install and far more robust.
If you already had FireBible installed from this site, check for an update to get the new version or just hit the FireBible page to install it. I’ll be updating the AMO version shortly, though it might take some time for this version to be accepted.
What’s new:
- Alternate versification (av11n) support. You can now read Catholic and other Bibles with versification that differs from KJV canon. Try the CPDV or DRC Catholic bibles.
- FireBible will download the native libraries it needs on Windows or Linux, it’s marginally faster than previous versions and much more robust (no more issues due to Mozilla’s security policies or odd Java distributions and browser plugins).
Deficiencies wrt. FireBible 1
- Does not work on OS X, the native libraries that FireBible uses haven’t been compiled for OS X yet.
- No search functionality.
- No module manager, though you can install from ZIP files easily through a new Install Modules button on the FireBible toolbar.
I’m working on the search and module manager, I did not want to hold up the release further because of these missing features (hence the beta tag). If you’re a C++ developer with OS X experience and would like to help compile the native libraries FireBible needs for OS X, please get in touch.
FireBible now uses the XULSword native library and we share quite a bit of JavaScript / XUL code as well. Thanks to John Austin for helping me get my changes into XULSword as well as providing support throughout the development of this version – FireBible would never have been resurrected without his help.
http://livingriver.eu/?p=577 MOAR details!?
Firefox kept changing their security policies as far as the use of Java in extensions was concerned and I had to keep duct-taping fixes in place that would keep FireBible working. Finally, they made a change that broke FireBible outright and there was no way to keep it going with Java; believe me, I tried. I wrote about these issues in the past and had been thinking about switching from JSword (Java library) to Sword (native library) for some time. When David Haslam pointed me to XULSword, I knew it was technically capable and decided to make the move.
FireBible 2.0 has been in development for ~ 1.5 years, the fundamental change from JSword to native Sword libraries wasn’t that hard (thanks to XULSword) but most of FireBible had to be rewritten. Getting all the functionality working has taken much longer than I anticipated – FireBible is weekend work and I got married last year! It’s still far from perfect, but definitely quite usable in its current form. Any feedback would be appreciated.