Compiling Firefox release from source code, exactly

Discussion of third-party/unofficial Firefox/Thunderbird/SeaMonkey builds.
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raxomi
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Compiling Firefox release from source code, exactly

Post by raxomi »

Is it possible to compile the Firefox files, with same hash (byte-by-byte) as the release distribution from official web, from source code?
In that case, what platform-configuration is used.
Does digital signature change just a part of the files?
How many people use their own compiled distribution?
Sorry if my question is too-newbie or alreade-answered.
xunxun1982
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Re: Compiling Firefox release from source code, exactly

Post by xunxun1982 »

It is impossible.
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raxomi
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Re: Compiling Firefox release from source code, exactly

Post by raxomi »

I'm Firefox's fan #1 and I don't doubt about their honesty, but if you're telling me that it's impossible to know that firefox.exe comes from published source code, that will be the same as saying that executable files are "proprietary software". It doesn't matter if the "look and feel" are the same; you don't know the internals. It's a question similar to Google Chrome and Chromium.

BTW, my thread has been moved to "Third Party/Unofficial Builds", but I'm explicitly talking about the official Firefox release [a Google product, sorry].

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LoudNoise
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Re: Compiling Firefox release from source code, exactly

Post by LoudNoise »

Depends on what you mean by hash. Mozilla offers a checksum to confirm that the installer you downloaded is the same as what they created. .
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xunxun1982
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Re: Compiling Firefox release from source code, exactly

Post by xunxun1982 »

It is because the compiler can't do what you want.
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raxomi
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Re: Compiling Firefox release from source code, exactly

Post by raxomi »

In conclusion, nobody knows how Mozilla Foundation compiles the binaries that millions of people install daily on their computers. It's "a secret", and the open source code is just for "reference purposes".
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James
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Re: Compiling Firefox release from source code, exactly

Post by James »

raxomi wrote:..but I'm explicitly talking about the official Firefox release [a Google product, sorry].

Say what?
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malliz
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Re: Compiling Firefox release from source code, exactly

Post by malliz »

raxomi wrote:In conclusion, nobody knows how Mozilla Foundation compiles the binaries that millions of people install daily on their computers. It's "a secret", and the open source code is just for "reference purposes".

Why do you want to reproduce Firefox exactly? Seems to me that is highly suspicions in it's own right. From memory the only thing the official compiler does is add branding and hashtags. Now as to your google mania I would suggest a good psychiatrist or in your case a mediocre one would do.
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xunxun1982
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Re: Compiling Firefox release from source code, exactly

Post by xunxun1982 »

raxomi wrote:In conclusion, nobody knows how Mozilla Foundation compiles the binaries that millions of people install daily on their computers. It's "a secret", and the open source code is just for "reference purposes".

I don't know why you say that, every software including opensource code can't be the same hash even if rebuilding more times using the same method. If you don't want to do that, please developing a compiler and linker to achieve it.
Mozilla uses the default configure to build their software, you can know it from about:buildconfig or Mozilla wiki.
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raxomi
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Re: Compiling Firefox release from source code, exactly

Post by raxomi »

malliz wrote:Why do you want to reproduce Firefox exactly? Seems to me that is highly suspicions in it's own right.

#-o Dammit! malliz you discovered my plans to crack Firefox source code and create a botnet that I would distribute hacking the Mozilla servers! :oops:
malliz wrote:Now as to your google mania I would suggest a good psychiatrist or in your case a mediocre one would do.

Thank you for your suggestion. I followed your advice and went to a psychiatrist. She told me not to trust people who use a dog's face as an avatar, [-X people who disdain others (based on post count?), and invited you to visit her. She added that people who believe everything are more happy, but they live like "good dogs" in a crowd. Independent thinking is very difficult to maintain when everyone thinks the same way. I understand that contradicting the mainstream line of thought, (any attempt to question official beliefs, being critical with the accepted ideology) will be crushed and ridiculed. Questioning Mozilla in a fanzine with 406,276 members, it's like questioning Mohammed in the Mecca. I repeat I don't doubt about Mozilla's honesty, I was just asking a hypothetic question.

The figures are public: Google is the financial supporter of Mozilla, accounting with a 85-95% of funding. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation
"Google Paying Mozilla Almost $1B for Firefox Search". If you think that a company can be independent while receiving its paycheck from one big corporation, you'd better visit https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/ Now Firefox is imitating Chrome in design and even versioning!
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/new-revamped ... 40079.html
That's why I got stuck in version 25 with my 'Firefox 3 theme' addon (but even I selected 'Never check for updates', FF keeps downloading and installing new versions in the background).
Google is everywhere in Firefox: homepage, default search engine, Safebrowsing and Geolocation APIs, all of them sending IP, MAC addresses, cookies and IDs to Google's servers.
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=368255
Yes, maybe I'm just a paranoid. Don't be afraid, guys, if someday I find out that Google uses those getMacAddressCommand() alike functions in Firefox to generate cookies and have access to installation timestamps and profile unique ID, I won't post here. Promise.


xunxun1982 wrote:Mozilla uses the default configure to build their software, you can know it from about:buildconfig or Mozilla wiki.

Thank you, that's an useful information. I had to investigate by myself. It seems that Digital Certificates are attached to the end of the executables. I signed calc.exe with SignTool and result was an exe + cert. I checked that with an Hex editor. I know that hash changes if 1 byte is changed, but you can still see the contents of a file with an Hex editor.
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trolly
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Re: Compiling Firefox release from source code, exactly

Post by trolly »

From several other posts I assume Mozilla is using PGO (profile guided optimization). Unless you have exactly the tests Mozilla uses for PGO you will never get the same output.
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KWierso
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Re: Compiling Firefox release from source code, exactly

Post by KWierso »

That's what bug 885777 (Not linking because you should only read the bug. Don't comment unless you have something productive to add to the table.) should eventually bring.
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James
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Re: Compiling Firefox release from source code, exactly

Post by James »

raxomi wrote:The figures are public: Google is the financial supporter of Mozilla, accounting with a 85-95% of funding. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation
"Google Paying Mozilla Almost $1B for Firefox Search". If you think that a company can be independent while receiving its paycheck from one big corporation, you'd better visit https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/ Now Firefox is imitating Chrome in design and even versioning!
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/new-revamped ... 40079.html
That's why I got stuck in version 25 with my 'Firefox 3 theme' addon (but even I selected 'Never check for updates', FF keeps downloading and installing new versions in the background).
Google is everywhere in Firefox: homepage, default search engine, Safebrowsing and Geolocation APIs, all of them sending IP, MAC addresses, cookies and IDs to Google's servers.
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=368255
Yes, maybe I'm just a paranoid. Don't be afraid, guys, if someday I find out that Google uses those getMacAddressCommand() alike functions in Firefox to generate cookies and have access to installation timestamps and profile unique ID, I won't post here. Promise.

The main reason for the pocket change from Google is for to be the default search in Firefox, not the other Google related stuff.
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