Firefox removal?

[tpprynn]

Can Firefox-esr be removed from Debian 10 without destroying the install because of the dependency situation? I don't use it and it seems to be just about the only thing being updated. If not, what would be the steps to alter upgrading so that Firefox and Libre Office, which has seemed to be the other larger upgrade, are left as they are. I use tethering and limited data so it'd be handy to streamline things a bit. (Maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way.)

[sunrat]

Debian 10 only gets security updates. You don't want to skip those unless your system is never connected to any network.
If it's a laptop you can disable automatic upgrades by removing the unattended-upgrades package and manually doing them when you are connected somewhere with less limited data. Make sure to do it regularly though.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

what would be the steps to alter upgrading so that Firefox and Libre Office

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# aptitude hold $package

Replace $package with the name of the package you wish to hold.

Really not recommended for Firefox though — security updates for that program are critical, which is why Debian make an exception for it and keep it updated even in the stable release.

[morse_the_horse]

I installed the "regular" firefox from mozilla and pointed everything to it. I then removed firefox-esr and it promptly auto re-installed my previously removed chromium. Removing chromium reinstalled firefox-esr. So I just gave up and left it on the system as it doesn't hurt anything and have continued to use mozilla "regular" firefox to keep it consistent with my other non-Debian system (2 Debian, 1 Win 7, 1 Ubuntu - okay, one linux mistake). Since the "regular" firefox lives in /opt/firefox, it does not interact with firefox-esr.

[milomak]

what do you get for the following:
apt -s remove firefox-esr
apt -s remove libreoffice

[Head_on_a_Stick]

I then removed firefox-esr and it promptly auto re-installed my previously removed chromium. Removing chromium reinstalled firefox-esr.

Your graphical desktop metapackage has a dependency on Debian's browser virtual package which is satisfied by either firefox-esr or chromium so if you remove one the other is installed.

Use this:

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aptitude why firefox-esr

Then remove the metapackage causing the problem. See also http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=104157

I installed the "regular" firefox from mozilla

That will be updated *much* more often than the ESR version supplied by Debian.