Firefox on Debian: Install from Launchpad easily

I haven't done Debian tutorials for a long time, apart from doing a mea culpa about the stones I threw in this post dating from my beginnings as a writer (especially in the fourth paragraph), in which I criticized Mozilla for not making a repo for Debian, Ubuntu and / or derivatives to launch Firefox on the stable branch.

6 days ago, when browsing my Diaspora * profile, I came across the news that Firefox 31 had already anticipated the official launch.

Well, many have seen the methods that had to be done to install Firefox to Debian, either manually o at the point of script, or pulling from the Linux Mint repo. However, like the backport of Debian-Mozilla which has the Debian project for the current stable branch (to date Wheezy), the Mozilla Foundation has done an official backport found on Launchpad, for which, if you use Ubuntu, you can use PPAs to keep you up to date. However, here I show you how to install Firefox on Debian without dying in the attempt.

Install Firefox on Debian from Launchpad

In this tutorial, I recommend uninstalling Iceweasel, since if you try to keep it next to Firefox, it can cause conflicts with both the profiles and the synchronized accounts, in addition to the fact that both browsers cannot run at the same time as it happens with Chromium and Google Chrome.

1.- Uninstalling Iceweasel

The first thing we have to do is uninstall Iceweasel, as, as the warning says, it can cause conflicts with Firefox. To carry out this action, we write this command prepending sudo (if it is configured, of course), or as superuser:

# apt-get remove iceweasel*

After taking this action, we go to the next step.

2.- Adding the Mozilla Security backport (Launchpad)

Now, what we have to do is add the official Mozilla Security repo, which contains the Firefox browser from the file / Etc / apt / sources.list (editing with GNU Nano or a graphical text editor):

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-security/ppa/ubuntu precise main

Next, we add the authentication key, which approves the connection of the security repo:

apt-key adv –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv-keys 7EBC211F

The apt-get update && apt-get upgrade just confirm the changes in adding this repo.

3.- Install Firefox

Now, what you have to do is simply run this command line to be able to confirm the switch from Iceweasel to Firefox:

# apt-get install firefox

And so we have a stable Firefox installed in an "official" way, since the Firefox edition that is in Launchpad, is mainly aimed at Ubuntu, Mint and / or derivatives, but thanks to Launchpad, this repo also benefits those who do not like it. like the weasel as a browser (although, in personal opinion, I like the cousin-brother of the fox born from the Debian lap).

PS: With this repo you can also install Thunderbird as a replacement for Icedove, if you want.


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  1.   Jorge said

    Iceweasel and Yandel! The new sensation of the block. 1.000.000 copies required 😀

    1.    elav said

      XDD

    2.    diazepam said

      Kill it with fire !!!

    3.    eliotime3000 said

      #LOL!

      And by the way, the user agent of that Launchpad Firefox, by default it appears that you use Ubuntu. : v

    4.    helena_ryuu said

      hahahahahaha I made that joke today xD

      1.    eliotime3000 said

        I liked the joke. Anyway, I just got on my netbook to update my Iceweasel.

  2.   pandev92 said

    In pclinux we already have it 🙂

    1.    elav said

      Same in Arch ..

      1.    Nano said

        Ah, I… yes, in Arch I also have it updated to 31 ._. just don't ask why i'm on arch.

        1.    elav said

          No need to ask .. That was a matter of time 😀

    2.    mat1986 said

      Also updated from Bridge (Arch-based), along with KDE 4.13.3

  3.   guidoignatius said

    The best thing is to use iceweasel from backports and you are as if you had firefox but with the benefits of iceweasel: http://mozilla.debian.net/

    1.    eliotime3000 said

      I already mentioned it when I said "Debian Mozilla", which is the name of the team dedicated to the fork of Firefox and Thunderbird (just in case, Iceape is no longer available either in the backport or in the official repos).

  4.   JLV said

    To add the key correctly it is:
    # apt-key adv –keyserver hkp: //keyserver.ubuntu.com: 80 –recv-keys 7EBC211F

    Greetings.

    1.    eliotime3000 said

      Well, the one I put in the post did not work the first time, so I had no problems trying it on Debian Wheezy in VirtualBox (the original installation still has Iceweasel).

  5.   otakulogan said

    Good tip, eliotime3000, but didn't you prefer Iceweasel? I'm telling you this because you don't comment in the article if you recommend more Iceweasel (from the Mozilla team or the one in the official repositories) or Firefox with the method you describe.

    1.    dwarf said

      It is not something from the other world, the differences between the two are minimal, Iceweasel was born for reasons of the branding of Firefox, which has Copyright, if I remember correctly, and some other thing with the codecs, but in general, it is Firefox, no more and no less.

      1.    eliotime3000 said

        That same. Iceweasel was born as a solution to the problem of incompatibility of directives that both the Debian project and the Mozilla Foundation had, to the extent that Mozilla's have criticized that they do not implement the official Firefox logo.

        Still, Firefox and Iceweasel have subtle differences, but that doesn't mean they are as incompatible as Qupzilla and GNU IceCat (also known as "the real IceWeasel").

        1.    otakulogan said

          Yes, it is subtle, but for example it also does not have performance reporting.

          1.    eliotime3000 said

            Normally, this is visualized through about: healthreport, but you can also enable the health and / or faults report through about: telepathy, which has to fulfill the same function without necessarily being Firefox (although I prefer to send the bugs through reportbug in the case of Iceweasel).

          2.    otakulogan said

            But it's not in Iceweasel, is it? I have tried both addresses and it gives them as invalid, also there are no options in the configuration in this regard (I don't know if there will be something in about: config) and it does not ask you for permission to use them at the beginning, as I have seen in the other Firefox .

    2.    eliotime3000 said

      And I continue to support the weasel despite having found out about this method. However, there are people who still did not realize that Firefox had its official backport for a long time, which is managed, together with the guys from Canonical, by the same official developers of Firefox and Thunderbird.

  6.   Emmanuel said

    First of all, I love how the comments look! 😀
    Second, the weasel is a love 🙁 although there are those who never stop loving the fox as such. Great article. Thank you.

    1.    eliotime3000 said

      Just like that, the weasel is love at first sight.

      And by the way, the Debian Mozilla backport already has Iceweasel 31 in its repos.

      1.    Emmanuel said

        So is!
        The first time is uncomfortable, because you don't know what it is and why it is the way it is ... but it falls in love.
        That's right, pretty fast actually. A great job from Mozilla to the Debian community.

    2.    DanielC said

      Just a clarification… .it is a panda, not a fox. 😛

      And yes, the appearance of the messages is much better.

      1.    Emmanuel said

        I refuse to use panda instead of fox!
        Yes, it is even contradictory, since it is called FireFOX, although I understand that its logo is based on the red panda. 😛

  7.   kuk said

    with your post you even want to use Debian 🙂

  8.   linuXgirl said

    Very good article. Thank you. At least I still love Iceweasel on Debian, I only use Firefox on Windows and Ubuntu. After all, Iceweasel and Firefox are close relatives. The differences, as you say, are subtle.

    1.    eliotime3000 said

      In fact, although Iceweasel is seen next to Firefox as two drops of water, internally, they have well differentiated differences such as the disabling of sending data from the preferences menu, the disabling of the browser updater (feature shared exclusively with Firefox for Ubuntu), disabling the health report page (limited to enabling via about: telepathy), and of course the respective rebranding you have.

  9.   Ricardo said

    Excellent post, the tutorial is very clear, thanks for sharing it, greetings

  10.   Hugo said

    Iceweasel is really good, I do not see the need to install another browser, I prefer Iceweasel for almost not consuming resources and as for Debian; it's the best there is for servers.

    1.    dhunter said

      In the end it is something psychological, as we do not see the red fox logo it seems to us that we are not using it, but Iceweasel ES Firefox, they disable auto update and change the artwork. I just use it and save myself the trouble.

      1.    eliotime3000 said

        The Autoupdate in Firefox for Ubuntu (including the one in the Launchpad), also has the updater disabled, so it updates through the repo like Google Chrome does.

  11.   alex said

    what is the idea of ​​installing firefox on debian if this iceweasel is the same and is updated with the same frequency this http://mozilla.debian.net/ to install the desired version the same for icedove

    1.    eliotime3000 said

      […] Well, many have seen the methods that had to be done to install Firefox to Debian, either manually or at the point of script, or pulling from the Linux Mint repo. However, like the Debian Mozilla backport that the Debian project has for the current stable branch […]

      Taken from the third paragraph of the post. The address you say is linked in the word Debian-Mozilla.

  12.   helena_ryuu said

    Hello partners!!! I have not commented through these means for centuries, right now I installed Firefox 31 on my Archlinux, and it is as always great, only the cache issue seemed strange to me.
    Greetings to all the staff, and how great the implementation of the new theme yeaaah !!!!

    1.    eliotime3000 said

      I don't know, I will just see that problem on my netbook with Iceweasel 31 (in the Jessie branch, it will take a week for them to update, because the Debian Mozilla version is already available to update from the morning).

  13.   error said

    launch a tutorial on how to install the beta 😀

  14.   desikoder said

    Thanks a lot. I'm sick of the iceweasel firecracker, which is version 24, I'm dying to have 31.0 at once !!!

    Debian is fine, but they have some mozilla license sheds that have cloth, of course, for a simple icon of nothing ...

    Greetings!

    1.    moony said

      The 24 version works faster than the 31 version. I remember that I used it for a few hours and when I put iceweasel from backports and stepped on it through the 31 I immediately noticed the difference. I think the damn interface is this «australis» (why the hell did they want round tabs and that floating shell when you configure something ... marketing and the bitch that gave birth to you!).

  15.   nacho20u said

    Now I am stable and the truth is I never thought it would last so long without breaking it, hold on iceweasel 24.8.0! It works magic on my Sempron with 1 gb of ram

  16.   pepito said

    Beware, if you try to copy the commands directly, there double hyppen has been replaced with an extended utf8 char, replace it with «-«

  17.   Chaparral said

    Thanks for the information that has helped me to install firefox on Debian 8 Gnome. I do not distinguish between firefox and iceweasel, but iceweasel crashed every two by three and it already had me more than full.
    In your explanation I have missed the command to configure firefox in Spanish and that is none other than this:

    sudo apt-get install firefox firefox-locale-en