Ubuntu 10.10: 2nd instance of Firefox does not obey GTK2 customizations

Question

On Ubuntu 10.10 I started a 2nd instance of Firefox using the command:
$ firefox -ProfileManager -no-remote &

Created a new profile and everything works smoothly except for the fact that this instance of FF does not obey by GTK2 customizations that I have placed in ~/.gtkrc-2.0

Moreover, only SOME of the customizations are not obeyed. For example, the vertical scrollbars are supposed to be on the left, but they are on the right. The scrollbar arrows are together (Mac-like) as specified, so is the scrollbar width.

The first instance obeys all customizations with scrollbars on the left. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Something very strange is going on. First of all, the problem was solved by syncing both profiles. A simple rsync -avz <old_profile_dir> <new_profile_dir> does the trick.

But it still doesn't explain why this was happening. As far as I know, I haven't installed any extensions or themes to tweak Firefox. Now for something much more interesting:

Check this screenshot of Gmail before syncing the profiles. Notice that the scrollbar is on the right. At the top right, it displays "[e-mail]" and the labs icon, settings, etc. On the top left, the menu is black and underlined.

Now see this screenshot of Gmail after syncing the profiles. Not only is the vertical scrollbar on the left, but more interestingly, the Gmail UI is totally different. On the top right it displays the name "XXX XXX" rather than "[e-mail]", and everything else goes under the "wheel". Clicking on the wheel opens up mail settings, account settings, etc. On the top left, the menu is bigger and bolder blue, with no underlines. Overall font size is 1-2 points larger.

So what is this mystery? Why does the Gmail UI change? Why are the scrollbars on the left?