Fix josm and Firefox 3 problem with YWMS plugin

The problem

Did your josm Yahoo! WMS plugin break when you upgraded to Firefox 3? Firefox 2 was just fine. What happened?

I dunno. Must be something serious.

You are not alone. Here's a quick hacky workaround to get you going again.

Disclaimer

This is a dirty rotten hack and should not be considered by anybody. On the other hand, it is a relatively quick and easy dirty rotten hack. Use your judgment.

Short answer

Use Seamonkey instead of Firefox 3 for the josm YWMS plugin. Use Firefox 3 for your browsing.

Longer answer

On Ubunutu Hardy
1. sudo apt-get install seamonkey
2. Start josm
1. select >>Edit >>Preferences >> the Y! tab
2. Set Firefox executable to "seamonkey"
3. Set Firefox profile to "josm"
4. Leave Server port set as "8000"
1. Click "Create"
2. Observe the open Seamonkey window
3. Click "Make Changes"
4. Allow the script to run to make the configuration changes.
5. Remember to close the Seamonkey window now, and each time you use the YWMS plugin.
5. Click OK to close the josm preferences.
3. Enjoy the YWMS plugin again. Mine did not require restarting josm YMMV.

Please note: On Ubuntu Hardy, Seamonkey from apt-get was version 1.1.12, and the latest from seamonkey-project.org was 1.1.13. Both worked.

On Ubuntu Feisty, I used iceape for the apt-get and the executable, rather than seamonkey. This worked as well.

Seamonkey provides binaries for several common platforms so Linux, Mac and Windows users should be all set.

• Get the latest Seamonkey and install it. http://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/
• Get the latest or latest stable josm and install it. http://josm.openstreetmap.de/

More testing

This worked at a mapping party on a Windows box. Using Seamonkey was easier than juggling Firefox profiles between Firefox 2 and Firefox 3.

Credit!

This fix was presented to me by Kevin, one of the attendees of the DC area mapping party from November 1-2, 2008. Thank you, Kevin!