102947 - ability to run several mozilla instances with different profiles

Status: VERIFIED DUPLICATE of bug 76431

(Core Graveyard :: Profile: BackEnd, defect)

Description

[Marko Macek]

I want to run one profile for browser and another one for mailnews (see bug
28327 for reasons why).

On linux I can currently run two profiles in parallel, but they don't check if
one is already running (bug 76431). There is no way to send a openURL("",
new-window) command to the correct one. There is also missing the default
behavior of navigator that starts a new window on windows when executed.

On windows I can't run two profiles at all...

Mac...?

This also affects turbo mode.
It would also good to have a -browser command line option that would be
equivalent to -remote 'openURL("about:blank <or> home-page", new-window)'.
I should probably file this as a separate bug.

Comment 1

[Marko Macek]

Bug 11459 needed after this. And the opposite: open http/ftp in external navigator.

Comment 2

[Conrad Carlen (not reading bugmail)]

> On windows I can't run two profiles at all...

Intentional - this was done so that clicking a URL shortcut did not open a whole
new instance of the browser. Instead, it forwards the command onto the running
instance and then quits. I doubt that behavior is going to change, but it's not
a profile issue.

> Mac...?

Here, you intentionally can't run two instances of mozilla or ns6 at the same
time. And, worse than Windows, it doesn't forward the command along to the
running instance - it just gives an alert and quits. Again, not a profile issue.

Since Linux is the only platform that lets you run two instances, it suffers
from bug 76431. Since that's the only part of this bug I would say is valid,
marking dup.

If you want to lobby against the Mac & Windows design for running multiple
instances, those are other bugs.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 76431 ***

Comment 3

[Marko Macek]

It would be good if you could run 2 browsers (or mail+browser) on the same
profile. But this has locking issues with cache, ... which need lots of work...

There is no reason not to allow 2 differerent profiles because they don't share
any (?) of the data.

I really need this, otherwise I have 2 choices:

1. use mozilla for browser, 4.x for mail. (my current)
2. on windows: use IE + mozilla mail
3. on linux: use 2 unix users, one for mail, one for browsing.

This is a major advantage of IE+Outlook combination. If one crashes the other
one doesn't. I really don't want my mail reading bothered by some crappy web
site that hogs the browser (easy to do with javascript, etc). I could also have
different proxies for each program.

Also. This bug is NOT a DUPLICATE of 76431. It might be
Future/helpwanted/wontfix or something. But it is exactly the opposite.

Please reopen.

Comment 4

[K'Trina Medina]

Conrad, could you make a call on this one? The reporter is requesting that we
reopen this or mark it future, helpwanted or wontfix as opposed to marking it as
a duplicate. 

Comment 5

[K'Trina Medina]

Verified as a dupe of bug 76431 (re: Linux). Reporter, please file separate bugs
to request that Mac & Windows run multiple instances.