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I have downloaded "waterfox-G4.0.6.en-US.linux-x86_64.tar.bz2" to my usual Downloads directory on a laptop that was running Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. That machine has been upgraded with Ubuntu 20.04 and then 22.04. So I still want to install the Waterfox G4.0.6 -- the package has not changed at all in the day or so it took me to make Ubuntu reasonably current.

I guess what puzzles me most is how a "package" can be just about anything according to some of the answers to similar questions (on this site) about installing Waterfox or other software all wrapped up as a .tar.bz2 file or something similar.

Practical solutions to installing "waterfox-G4.0.6.en-US.linux-x86_64.tar.bz2" on Ubuntu 22.04 would be very helpful.

muru
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TMG
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    Ubuntu 22.04 doesn't yet exist; it's currently the development release Ubuntu jammy and remains that until it reaches RC state which isn't expected until after 14 April 2022, and isn't on-topic here until release on 21 April 2022. https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/jammy-jellyfish-release-schedule/23906 Please refer https://askubuntu.com/help/on-topic. For support issues with Ubuntu jammy you'll need to use a #ubuntu-next or #ubuntu+1 site (IRC, UF etc) – guiverc Jan 26 '22 at 03:44
  • Terrance's answer seemed to come close, but when I open, click or double-click Waterfox in my Favorites lists, there is a lot of drive activity for a few seconds...then nothing further happens, Since I have never actually run vG4.0.6 of Waterfox for Linux on any (presumably) compatible platform, I can only assume that it should work because there has been no mass griping to the contrary. – TMG Jan 26 '22 at 17:25
  • I need to verify each step and make sure I got it correct and that it seems to have done what it should. That's a lot of new stuff for me to think about. Thanks! – TMG Jan 26 '22 at 17:34

1 Answers1

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From the folder that you have downloaded waterfox-G4.0.6.en-US.linux-x86_64.tar.bz2 do the following to extract the contents:

tar xvf waterfox-G4.0.6.en-US.linux-x86_64.tar.bz2

Then enter the folder that was created

cd waterfox

Now create a folder that you are going to place Waterfox in:

sudo mkdir -p /opt/waterfox

and copy all the contents of the waterfox folder that you are in to the newly created folder

sudo cp -rav * /opt/waterfox/

After the files are copied, create a link to Waterfox in the /usr/bin folder so you can launch it command line

sudo ln -s /opt/waterfox/waterfox /usr/bin/waterfox

Now go to your local applications folder:

cd ~/.local/share/applications/

and create a Waterfox.desktop file with the following contents in it:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Name=Waterfox
Comment=Waterfox
Exec=/opt/waterfox/waterfox %u
Icon=/opt/waterfox/browser/chrome/icons/default/default64.png
Path=
Terminal=false
StartupNotify=false
Categories=Application;Network;Security;

Make sure the permissions are correct to the file chmod 644 Waterfox.desktop

And now you should have Waterfox in your menu under Internet.

Hope this helps!

Terrance
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    You probably want to add %u to the command so one can configure for example html files to open with Waterfox – vanadium Jan 26 '22 at 08:12
  • @vanadium Thanks for the suggestion! I didn't think about that as I don't have any local files that I open and it has been working fine. But there is always that one time I go to do it and it no workie! =) – Terrance Jan 26 '22 at 14:12
  • Creation of the .desktop file can be probably done via the GUI, using "add new application launcher" or something like this. – raj Jan 26 '22 at 14:16
  • Add %u to which command exactly? Also, could someone provide a link to the waterfox PPA. Thanks. – Melvin Q. Watchpocket Jan 26 '22 at 21:35
  • @MelvinQ.Watchpocket There isn't one. There is only the one for Firefox that is for Ubuntu. Waterfox is only installable as above. The %u is added into my answer for the .desktop file. – Terrance Jan 26 '22 at 21:54
  • Sorry about referring to Ubuntu 22.04. I had exactly the same problem trying to install to 20.04, so an answer for that would be fine. The main issue for me was not knowing exactly what needed to be done to convert the WF package to an installed executable program that operates about like FF95. (I do realize that FF comes with Ubuntu whereas WF does not, so some differences are to be expected in the install process. :-) TMG – TMG Jan 26 '22 at 23:34
  • @TMG The answer here is exactly how I have installed both Firefox and Waterfox directly from downloading the tar.bz2 files. – Terrance Jan 26 '22 at 23:36
  • Terrance, I will retry your procedure in a few hours. It is easy to mistype things on this ancient laptop and I want to experiment with some alternative methods anyway -- learning a lot more about apt is a very high priority for me. – TMG Jan 26 '22 at 23:39
  • @TMG Normally I don't recommend doing it, but you can copy and paste my instructions into a terminal window for the commands to run. There's nothing in my commands that is dangerous or destructive to a system. – Terrance Jan 26 '22 at 23:41
  • There was a "u" parameter missing (as per someone's comment) and something about Security and Network seemed not defined sufficiently. I can figure it out from here. Thanks. – TMG Jan 27 '22 at 04:33
  • @TMG The %u is for when you need to assign the app to be like a default app when using a GUI file browser. .desktop files are not used when doing a command line in a terminal window. The Network and Security are Categories to help the app appear in the right location. – Terrance Jan 27 '22 at 23:09
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    This worked perfectly for me. Thank you! – LeviAckerman Feb 21 '23 at 02:21