Scheduled Maintenance: We are aware of an issue with Google, AOL, and Yahoo services as email providers which are blocking new registrations. We are trying to fix the issue and we have several internal and external support tickets in process to resolve the issue. Please see: viewtopic.php?t=158230

 

 

 

Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

Graphical Environments, Managers, Multimedia & Desktop questions.
Message
Author
hafak43460
Posts: 1
Joined: 2019-11-26 20:46

Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#1 Post by hafak43460 »

What is the best way to install Firefox 70 with Debian Buster?

If I use the Mozilla binaries:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/in ... efox-linux

Then do I still need the Debian package Firefox ESR? For example, install the latest binaries in /opt or /usr/local/bin, but keep the ESR version on there to preserve dependencies?

I actually don't need/want ESR on there, I just don't want to mess up the dependencies.

The best option would be to use an actually officially supported Debian package of Firefox 70. Is this possible? Can I use the binaries from the unstable branch which does have the latest Firefox? Will it "work" on Buster? Perhaps I would recompile it instead? Anyway, I want to stay with stable branch for all packages EXCEPT Firefox (and if I must any neccessary dependencies).

Firefox 70 I want to be the latest release. Is this possible to keep my machine with stable branch but with the one exception of Firefox?

There's a pretty big boost in battery performance and overall improvement between 68 - > 70, it seems a little silly waiting for the next Debian release. Is it possible?

User avatar
sunrat
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6412
Joined: 2006-08-29 09:12
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Has thanked: 116 times
Been thanked: 462 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#2 Post by sunrat »

There's about a million threads here on how to run the latest Firefox on stable.
Download the tarball, extract it and run it. I put it in ~/bin/
No you don't need ESR as well.
“ computer users can be divided into 2 categories:
Those who have lost data
...and those who have not lost data YET ”
Remember to BACKUP!

kedaha
Posts: 3521
Joined: 2008-05-24 12:26
Has thanked: 33 times
Been thanked: 77 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#3 Post by kedaha »

I'm happy with firefox-esr but I see that one way to do it would be by using snap:

Code: Select all

root@debian:~# apt install snapd
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  squashfs-tools
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  snapd squashfs-tools
Followed by:

Code: Select all

root@debian:~# snap install firefox
2019-11-27T00:28:17+01:00 INFO Waiting for restart...
firefox 70.0.1-1 from Mozilla✓ installed
I tried it on my mate desktop system but for some reason I haven't figured out yet there's no icon in the mate menu and the usual firefox-esr launches with the command firefox, but it might work perfectly OK in Gnome or KDE.
DebianStable

Code: Select all

$ vrms

No non-free or contrib packages installed on debian!  rms would be proud.

User avatar
pylkko
Posts: 1802
Joined: 2014-11-06 19:02

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#4 Post by pylkko »

No, it's because if you install it from a archive that you downloaded (or apparently snap), you then need to remove the symlink from firefox to the ESR and put the icon yourself. I mean Debian (IIRC) has a symlink from the firefox bin to the ESR. So you need to remove that or use some other way to lauch your alternative firefox.

But you might want to check as there probably are also snap and flatpack packages of firefox

L_V
Posts: 1477
Joined: 2007-03-19 09:04
Been thanked: 11 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#5 Post by L_V »

Code: Select all

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#product-desktop-release

User avatar
Danielsan
Posts: 659
Joined: 2010-10-10 22:36
Has thanked: 5 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#6 Post by Danielsan »

I have been always using the binary method:

https://wiki.debian.org/Firefox

arochester
Emeritus
Emeritus
Posts: 2435
Joined: 2010-12-07 19:55
Has thanked: 14 times
Been thanked: 54 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#7 Post by arochester »

Might be heresy. Might breach "Don't Break Debian", with the introduction of a third party repository...

Ubuntuzilla works fine. Provides constantly updated Firefox, Thunderbird and/or Seamonkey to the latest release.

Unfortunate name though!

https://sourceforge.net/p/ubuntuzilla/wiki/Main_Page/

Bulkley
Posts: 6383
Joined: 2006-02-11 18:35
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 39 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#8 Post by Bulkley »

sunrat wrote:There's about a million threads here on how to run the latest Firefox on stable.
Download the tarball, extract it and run it. I put it in ~/bin/
+1.

I use this method to run several different browsers (I'm a browser junkie) and Thunderbird email client.

kedaha
Posts: 3521
Joined: 2008-05-24 12:26
Has thanked: 33 times
Been thanked: 77 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#9 Post by kedaha »

OK Solved:
After doing

Code: Select all

# apt install snapd
# snap install firefox
All I had to do was:

Code: Select all

# cp /var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications/firefox_firefox.desktop /usr/share/applications/
And "Firefox Web Browser" appears in my Mate desktop menu complete with the firefox icon and the usual options and doesn't interfere with my usual, default Firefox ESR, which can be run at the same time if desired.

Code: Select all

$ snap list |grep firefox
firefox  70.0.1-1   280   stable    mozilla*    -
DebianStable

Code: Select all

$ vrms

No non-free or contrib packages installed on debian!  rms would be proud.

User avatar
sunrat
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6412
Joined: 2006-08-29 09:12
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Has thanked: 116 times
Been thanked: 462 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#10 Post by sunrat »

Snap is the very last method I would ever use to install software only after all other options have failed. I would seriously reconsider whether I need said software first.
“ computer users can be divided into 2 categories:
Those who have lost data
...and those who have not lost data YET ”
Remember to BACKUP!

kedaha
Posts: 3521
Joined: 2008-05-24 12:26
Has thanked: 33 times
Been thanked: 77 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#11 Post by kedaha »

sunrat wrote:Snap is the very last method I would ever use to install software only after all other options have failed. I would seriously reconsider whether I need said software first.
Do you think it poses a security risk?
It is odd that snap is included Debian's stable main repository since it allows the easy installation of upstream software, including some that clearly contravene Debian policy like Opera, Skype and Spotify.
Anyway, I always use and recommend using Firefox ESR—with uBlock origin, both installed from the stable repository.
DebianStable

Code: Select all

$ vrms

No non-free or contrib packages installed on debian!  rms would be proud.

User avatar
sunrat
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6412
Joined: 2006-08-29 09:12
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Has thanked: 116 times
Been thanked: 462 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#12 Post by sunrat »

kedaha wrote:
sunrat wrote:Snap is the very last method I would ever use to install software only after all other options have failed. I would seriously reconsider whether I need said software first.
Do you think it poses a security risk?
Yes, vulnerabilities have been found a few times in its underlying infrastructure and malware has been found in the snap store. Equally concerning is the duplication of resources by installing said underlying infrastructure. I did try to install a snap once and it wanted to pull in over half a GB of dependencies. Aborted and found a tinier alternative.
I think Ubuntu are heading in the direction of becoming a snap OS rather than a Linux OS.
It is odd that snap is included Debian's stable main repository since it allows the easy installation of upstream software, including some that clearly contravene Debian policy like Opera, Skype and Spotify.
Anyway, I always use and recommend using Firefox ESR—with uBlock origin, both installed from the stable repository.
Snap is open source and someone (probably from Ubuntu) offered to maintain it in Debian so it's in Debian. Not a guarantee of quality, security, or practicality.
Firefox ESR is perfectly fine for practically all users. Debian maintainers keep it well updated with security fixes so it's just as safe as upstream. It's many years since I installed FF from outside the repos. I would even suggest it is SNS syndrome to want the latest from upstream, with no real advantages most of the time.
“ computer users can be divided into 2 categories:
Those who have lost data
...and those who have not lost data YET ”
Remember to BACKUP!

pcalvert
Posts: 1939
Joined: 2006-04-21 11:19
Location: Sol Sector
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#13 Post by pcalvert »

arochester wrote:Might be heresy. Might breach "Don't Break Debian", with the introduction of a third party repository...

Ubuntuzilla works fine. Provides constantly updated Firefox, Thunderbird and/or Seamonkey to the latest release.

Unfortunate name though!

https://sourceforge.net/p/ubuntuzilla/wiki/Main_Page/
Yes, it definitely does work.

Code: Select all

$ apt policy firefox-mozilla-build
firefox-mozilla-build:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 70.0.1-0ubuntu1
  Version table:
     70.0.1-0ubuntu1 500
        500 http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/ubuntuzilla/mozilla/apt all/main i386 Packages
I don't use Firefox 70, but if I wanted to this is the method I would use to install it and keep it up to date.

Phil
Freespoke is a new search engine that respects user privacy and does not engage in censorship.

L_V
Posts: 1477
Joined: 2007-03-19 09:04
Been thanked: 11 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#14 Post by L_V »

pcalvert wrote: keep it up to date.
It depends on what ubuntu is adding in their firefox packages:
Ubuntu firefox-esr-mozilla-build_68.2.0esr-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb 70.8 MB

Debian firefox-esr (68.2.0esr-1~deb10u1)_amd64 => 46 MB

They are not "same" firefox.
+ predicted dependency issues during updates.
Not so sure mixing ubuntu packages with Debian is a brilliant idea (....even sure).
Last edited by L_V on 2019-11-28 09:01, edited 1 time in total.

arochester
Emeritus
Emeritus
Posts: 2435
Joined: 2010-12-07 19:55
Has thanked: 14 times
Been thanked: 54 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#15 Post by arochester »

@L_V

As far as I can see Ubuntuzilla adds the versions from Mozilla and not the versions from Ubuntu.
Ubuntuzilla: Mozilla Software Installer
APT repository for Mozilla software releases

L_V
Posts: 1477
Joined: 2007-03-19 09:04
Been thanked: 11 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#16 Post by L_V »

arochester wrote:As far as I can see Ubuntuzilla adds the versions from Mozilla
Mozilla does not make any deb packages.
Ubuntuzilla makes mozilla packages for ubuntu.
Easy to open deb files / data.gz to see the differences between Debian/Ubuntu(zilla) packages.

Size of firefox_70.0.1+build1-0ubuntu2_amd64.deb from ubuntu repository => 47.5 MB
Size of firefox-mozilla-build_70.0.1-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb from Ubuntuzilla => 70.9 MB

Something weird, although both "ubuntu" like.
But Debian & ubuntu are using xz data compression, and ubuntuzilla gz data compression.

pcalvert
Posts: 1939
Joined: 2006-04-21 11:19
Location: Sol Sector
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#17 Post by pcalvert »

arochester wrote:@L_V

As far as I can see Ubuntuzilla adds the versions from Mozilla and not the versions from Ubuntu.
That's correct, and the package names make that quite clear:

firefox-esr-mozilla-build
firefox-mozilla-build
seamonkey-mozilla-build
thunderbird-mozilla-build


Phil
Freespoke is a new search engine that respects user privacy and does not engage in censorship.

L_V
Posts: 1477
Joined: 2007-03-19 09:04
Been thanked: 11 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#18 Post by L_V »

pcalvert wrote: the package names make that quite clear: firefox-esr-mozilla-build
Not as clear as you presume if you consider the complete package names:
firefox-mozilla-build_70.0.1-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb from Ubuntuzilla

But of course, the original code of firefox comes from ... mozilla !

pcalvert
Posts: 1939
Joined: 2006-04-21 11:19
Location: Sol Sector
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#19 Post by pcalvert »

L_V wrote: Not as clear as you presume if you consider the complete package names:
firefox-mozilla-build_70.0.1-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb from Ubuntuzilla
It's an unfortunate (and potentially confusing) naming choice, but understandable considering that the project was started by an Ubuntu user.
L_V wrote: But of course, the original code of firefox comes from ... mozilla !
It does indeed -- I verified it myself. I installed the firefox-esr-mozilla-build (i386) package from Ubuntuzilla, as well as the tarball from Mozilla, and then checked the files using hashdeep.

Phil
Freespoke is a new search engine that respects user privacy and does not engage in censorship.

L_V
Posts: 1477
Joined: 2007-03-19 09:04
Been thanked: 11 times

Re: Best way to install Firefox 70 on Debian Buster

#20 Post by L_V »

I've noticed differences between mozilla packages made for Debian or "ubuntu*" (especially with xdg-desktop-portal)
May be in Gnome environment, you will not notice any differences, but it does not mean there is no difference.
In Debian, I use the Debian release or the binary from Mozilla (tar.gz).

I even don't see how a generic ubuntu{zilla} deb package can properly manage dependencies over distribution releases (Debian and ubuntu).
But well, let's say, if "it works" , it's fine.... as long as it works fine.

Post Reply