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Old 5th August 2014
ipc ipc is offline
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Default Citation / reference managers in OpenBSD?

Dear OpenBSD users,

I've just acquired a Thinkpad x200 with the aim of transitioning into a full-time OpenBSD user. The 5.5 release with the Xfce desktop works flawlessly and I am very happy with this system.

Nearly all of my software needs have been quite satisfactorily met using the available packages. However, one minor niggle remains. I cannot seem to find a suitable reference/citation manager for academic work.

I am very fond of Zotero, but Firefox on OpenBSD seems to have issues with the Zotero plugin. The browser will not relaunch after it has been installed. Thus I am unable to use either Firefox or Zotero until the Zotero plugin is removed. I cannot either compile FireFox from ports due to space limitations on the current drive. Just for kicks I tried Zotero in a fresh install of FreeBSD and it does not have this issue.

I am aware that the problem seems to be more widespread: forums.zotero.org/discussion/32183?page=1#Item_12

None of the options listed on the Zotero forum worked for me. I even tried an online hack to get the Zotero plugin working in Seamonkey without success.

Jabref, the other alternative, is not available in the OpenBSD repository or in ports.

Ideally I would like a program that works well with LibreOffice. I have no qualms about learning something completely new until the Zotero issue is fixed. I am willing to wait patiently for a fix but in the meantime I need something to use. I would even be willing to explore a proprietary option as a last resort.

Any tips or suggestions would be very appreciated! I am willing to put in the time and effort to get this working so any suggestions will be taken very seriously.
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Old 5th August 2014
ocicat ocicat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ipc View Post
I cannot seem to find a suitable reference/citation manager for academic work.
Unfortunately, this community is small, & the number of regulars who answer (most) questions can be counted on one hand. Most here, probably find that the bookmarks feature supplied by most browsers sufficient.

Nevertheless, I have two suggestions.
  • While someone may join in on this thread offering a reasonable alternative, my first thought would be to post to a larger audience which would be the official misc@ or ports@ mailing lists.
    • ports@ is most likely the most appropriate list, but many incorrectly post questions about applications on misc@.
    • Posting to misc@ will reach a larger audience.
    Information on subscribing to the official OpenBSD mailing lists can be found at the following:

    http://www.openbsd.org/mail.html
  • Secondly, OpenBSD 5.5 at this time, is nearly 7-8 months past its development phase. Firefox 31.0 will be available in the upcoming 5.6 release which is officially to be made available 1 November 2014. Development for OpenBSD 5.6 is winding down now, & snapshots of the development branch will currently be very close to what will be available in November. My second sugggestion is to download a current snapshot, & install Firefox 31 through packages (verified for the amd64 platform). You might find that these plugins work there, but I have no knowledge whether this is a true. It may be worth the time for you to investigate.

    If you are unfamiliar with the different flavors of OpenBSD's development, please read Section 5.1 of the official FAQ.
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Old 5th August 2014
ibara ibara is offline
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Ugh. That's no good. I too am going to need Zotero abilities in the near future.
Is it absolutely necessary to use Firefox here? I just tried their Chrome standalone thing and Chrome reboots just fine with it installed.

ocicat: I just confirmed it on -current here with Fx31.
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Old 5th August 2014
ipc ipc is offline
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Default Zotero

[*] While someone may join in on this thread offering a reasonable alternative, my first thought would be to post to a larger audience which would be the official misc@ or ports@ mailing lists.


Thank you for this bit of advice! I am in the process of posting there. Hopefully a solution is somewhere in the pipeline. This may actually be the issue that dictates whether I will be able to use OBSD or not. I'm not interested in dual booting into another OS just for Zotero/reference manager. Fingers crossed.
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Old 5th August 2014
ipc ipc is offline
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Default Zotero

Quote:
Originally Posted by ibara View Post
Ugh. That's no good. I too am going to need Zotero abilities in the near future.
Is it absolutely necessary to use Firefox here? I just tried their Chrome standalone thing and Chrome reboots just fine with it installed.

ocicat: I just confirmed it on -current here with Fx31.
ibara: Thanks for the tip. While the Zotero standalone plugin does work with Chrome/Chromium, the standalone program that the plugin needs to work does not (is Linux only) so this doesn't seem like an alternative either.

So the issue is the same in ~5.6? Bummer.
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Old 5th August 2014
ibara ibara is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ipc View Post
the standalone program that the plugin needs to work does not (is Linux only) so this doesn't seem like an alternative either.
Can that be ported?

Quote:
Originally Posted by ipc View Post
So the issue is the same in ~5.6? Bummer.
It will be, yes. Unless a future Zotero update fixes it and is compatible with Fx31 (which it will almost certainly be, since Fx31 is an ESR brance).
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Old 28th August 2014
ibara ibara is offline
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Just to make a follow-up to this:
I am using the Chrome Zotero plug-in. It requires nothing more than the installation from the Zotero page and works great.
Definitely another route to consider if doing academic work on OpenBSD.
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