upgrading firefox (Solved, THX)

[jppattison]

@ pawRoot - Yeah, I read that. I didn't know if I should change that /opt (which I can do now, I think, [ by using mv?]) ..... now that I know I've got Firefox 58 ;>). OTOH, should I use that command they gave for updating my new Firefox, or will that work?

Update Firefox
To update your Firefox execute:

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$ wget -O FirefoxSetup.tar.bz2 "https://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-latest&os=linux64&lang=en-US"
# tar xjf FirefoxSetup.tar.bz2 -C /opt/firefox/

also, if I mv the new Firefox to ~/usr as HOAS mentioned would the command be:

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# mv /usr/lib/firefox-esr/firefox-esr /opt/firefox-esr/firefox-esr_orig
mv /opt/firefox/firefox/firefox /usr/lib/firefox/firefox/firefox

since esr was moved out of there?

Another question - wouldn't it be a good idea to remove Firefox-ESR before I do any moving to avoid any conflicts or other issues? A similar question was asked in the comments on that same tutorial - that it would somehow cause the new Firefox NOT to be able to update properly. I know that comment is older and was migrating from Firefox 55 to Firefox 56, but I don't need any problems.

Don't we have to uninstall Debian's deprecated version of Firefox first? Otherwise, the work would be wiped by a glacially slow update, one day. I ended up without even an icon after I did that. I had to create a launcher, etc.--I had to start with the /opt/Firefox55 Firefox version I had previously set up in order to get to this info (and the Libre page) again: Even when the version 56 extract is installed, rebooting proves necessary. Before rebooting, Firefox indicated version 55, still. I noted that proved true before.... Thanks!

And then I could

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apt-get remove firefox-esr_orig

if it was a good idea to remove Firefox esr.
TIA, jppattison

Just saw this in the Debian wiki - would this be a better option than moving the files or not;

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sudo ln -s /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/local/bin/

[pawRoot]

I believe you can just move the whole folder to home directory, but i am not 100% sure so wait for someone more experienced to confirm.

This is what i would try

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mkdir -p ~/bin/
sudo rsync -a /opt/firefox ~/bin/
sudo rm -rf /opt/firefox

and then just follow Debian wiki to create shortcut if you need one.

if it was a good idea to remove Firefox esr.

Depends, for example in Gnome if you remove Firefox ESR you will also delete all Gnome packages, so be careful.

Just saw this in the Debian wiki - would this be a better option than moving the files or not;

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sudo ln -s /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/local/bin/

I believe this would just create link, and the original would be still in /opt/ ?
Again, im not 100% sure.

[sunrat]

All this script stuff is getting confusing. If you use a desktop environment, just download from Mozilla site and extract where you want it (~/bin sounds like a good place). Then enter the extracted directory and click on firefox.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

^ +1

[jppattison]

All this script stuff is getting confusing. If you use a desktop environment, just download from Mozilla site and extract where you want it (~/bin sounds like a good place). Then enter the extracted directory and click on firefox.

I have d/l'ed it from Mozilla (as the wget command shows) and I am using FF-58 as I said in earlier post(s). I was just hoping that I could get an opinion from H-O-A-S as to whether I should move it to either /usr/bin or /usr/lib, and whether I should remove ff-esr or not, since H-O-A-S was the one asking if putting the FF file in /opt was a wise thing to do. I'm getting old - gimme a break!
I'm just trying to get this set up so that I don't have any troubles, and so that it will upgrade when I ask for it. Since I'm causing you too much confusion, I guess I'll just take my chances and try out pawRoot's suggestion, and then remove FF-esr completely. It's been several years since I have used Linux and the CLI, so that's why I ask so many questions - wiki's and manuals can only tell you so much - and - so little at the same time ..... people's experiences can tell you so much more. Thanks for your input, sorry if I have offended you.

[None1975]

I'm just trying to get this set up so that I don't have any troubles, and so that it will upgrade when I ask for it. Since I'm causing you too much confusion, I guess I'll just take my chances and try out pawRoot's suggestion, and then remove FF-esr completely. It's been several years since I have used Linux and the CLI, so that's why I ask so many questions - wiki's and manuals can only tell you so much - and - so little at the same time ..... people's experiences can tell you so much more. Thanks for your input, sorry if I have offended you.

Why so complicate? No need to uninstall Firefox-esr. Just go to The new Firefox web site, download it to your home directory, place.tar.bz2 archive anywhere (i place it under folder "Documents/Browser"), extract it, go to extracted folder, locate executable file, named "firefox", execute it. No need go to command line. If you want update this program, open Firefox menu, go to "help/About Firefox". The program itself will find updates and install them.

[pawRoot]

But then everytime he want's to launch Firefox he has to navigate to Firefox folder which is kinda lame imo.

[jppattison]

This is what i would try

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mkdir -p ~/bin/
sudo rsync -a /opt/firefox ~/bin/
sudo rm -rf /opt/firefox

and then just follow Debian wiki to create shortcut if you need one.

Thanks pawRoot. I have used the above to move firefox to the new ~/bin/ directory. ( I had to install rsync to do that, but now I've got that tool as well.) Also, I located all of the firefox-esr files and was able to remove all but a couple. Now I'll see if I screwed up anything in the process.
Many thanks for your help and advice!
jppattison

[pawRoot]

^No problem, you can also create file /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop, with this inside

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[Desktop Entry]
Name=Firefox
Comment=Web Browser
GenericName=Web Browser
X-GNOME-FullName=Firefox
Exec=~/bin/firefox/firefox %u
Terminal=false
X-MultipleArgs=false
Type=Application
Icon=~/bin/firefox/browser/icons/mozicon128.png
Categories=Network;WebBrowser;
MimeType=text/html;text/xml;application/xhtml+xml;application/xml;application/vnd.mozilla.xul+xml;application/rss+xml;application/rdf+xml;image/gif;image/jpeg;image/png;x-scheme-handler/http;x-scheme-handler/https;
StartupWMClass=Firefox
StartupNotify=true

[Head_on_a_Stick]

This is what i would try

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mkdir -p ~/bin/
sudo rsync -a /opt/firefox ~/bin/
sudo rm -rf /opt/firefox

That won't work unless the FF binary is copied to ~/bin and it also needs ~/bin to be in PATH (which is not the case for a stock Debian system).

[pawRoot]

^But the binary is inside firefox folder.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

whether I should move it to either /usr/bin or /usr/lib, and whether I should remove ff-esr or not

Copy the Firefox binary (the executable file called firefox that is contained within the tarball supplied by Mozilla) to ~/bin

Check if ~/bin is scanned for executables by running

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echo $PATH

If ~/bin does not appear in the output of the above command then add this line to the end of the file at ~/.profile

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export PATH="${HOME}/bin:${PATH}"

[Head_on_a_Stick]

the binary is inside firefox folder.

Yes, exactly — ~/bin/firefox/ won't be in $PATH so the executable won't be found.

[pawRoot]

But if he creates firefox.desktop then it won't really matter right ? or it will ?
I have the executable in ~/bin/firefox/ and it works fine.

also

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❯  ~ echo $PATH
/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games

is this how it should be ?

[Head_on_a_Stick]

But if he creates firefox.desktop then it won't really matter right ? or it will ?

That would depend on how the OP launches programs in their desktop

If a full desktop environment is in use and the XDG menu system is available then yes, your posted .desktop file will launch the program.

However, if the OP wants to start the program from the command line or a simple launcher (such as gmrun or dmenu) then my method will be needed.

Note that the .desktop file will have to be modified accordingly if my suggestion is used.

[pawRoot]

I can use it fine with dmenu and rofi, although i have used the script i provided above.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

I can use it fine with dmenu and rofi

Only because your script places the FF binary in /opt then sets the x-terminal-emulator alternative to that.

Setting x-terminal-emulator to ~/bin/firefox is not really sensible, even in a single-user system

[pawRoot]

I can use it fine with dmenu and rofi

Only because your script places the FF binary in /opt then sets the x-terminal-emulator alternative to that.

Setting x-terminal-emulator to ~/bin/firefox is not really sensible, even in a single-user system

No no i modified the script to copy it to ~/bin/

[jppattison]

I have tried to use every piece of advice that I can understand .... I have downloaded Firefox 5 times, trying each way that a person has suggested, nothing! I guess I should have left well enough alone!I have also tried to remove Firefox ESR, and that's probably where I made my biggest mistake. Now I can no longer launch Firefox, Firefox-ESR from the menus OR from the Application Finder - I get a little red sign instead of the Internet. I was getting "Failed to execute default Web Browser, input/output error", but now that Konqueror has taken over, I don't even get that anymore. The only advice I didn't take (other than bash scripts) was th MX repos, since H-O-A-S linked to "breaking your debian" when I suggested putting 'testing' repos into my sources.list. I figured if it wasn't from a Debian repo, it wasn't a good idea!
I think I've completely screwed up my install, so I'll end up having to re-install. I'll just chalk it up to a learning experience . Like I said, I think that when I tried removing all traces of Firefox ESR, that started me on the fast trip to the bottom.

BTW, Konqueror is Dog-Slow, and I think it is still in the dark ages as far as browsers go, but at least I had a way to get on the net! When I re-install, I'll find a better back-up brewser, that's for sure!

THANKS TO ALL who have tried to help me on this, it was much appreciated. I'll be back when I re-install - either tonite or tomorrow, I think.

[pawRoot]

since you are doing clean install just try the last script i posted, i used it on 3 machines already and have 0 problems, why overcomplicate things