Replace Firefox without uninstalling desktop environment in 18.04

Question

I do not want any software on my computer to auto-update without my prior consent and thereby forcing me to submit to the control and schedules of some software developer. Firefox installed by the Canonical repository does not let me disable automatic update. I rather download and install Firefox from the Mozilla website instead, but the Aptitude package manager won't let me remove Firefox without removing the Cinnamon desktop environment due to software dependencies. What can I do?

FWIW, there are a couple of reasons why I need to stop the auto-update. I'm on a slow Internet connection and don't need anything to slow things down when I don't need it. But regarding Firefox, I find it a total nuisance to have tabs above bookmarks and URL, meaning I always have to research and update my userChrome.css file since Firefox no longer provides such customization option.

Meanwhile I also tried the mozilla ppa repository, only to learn it's practically the same, still giving me no option to interfere with the auto-update. Anyway, I removed the mozilla repository and uninstalled anything firefox again using the Synaptic package manager. Also removed the cinnamon desktop-environment and haven't seen any ill effects yet.

I than followed the instructions according to https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-firefox-linux#w_install-firefox-from-mozilla-builds-for-advanced-users. But downloaded firefox from the mozilla ftp site.

After logout I also have the "new" Firefox in the menu. Strange however, I can now choose the setting to auto-update or check and confirm. However, auto-update isn't working at all anymore and I see a blue face telling me to update Firefox downloading from their website. It wouldn't mind to know why auto-update is no longer an option, but I can live with it.

One more update: I reinstalled Ubuntu and removed snap. The auto-update ran and I de-selected Firefox in the update details, but it still updated (Firefox canonical).

I am on 20.04 with cinnamon and I managed to remove Firefox without disturbing cinnamon, IIRC I used Synaptic. — Raffles, Jun 16 '22 at 09:29
firefox is only required if it's how you met the dependency requirements... If you have another alternative installed; it won't require firefox; but please note that Cinnamon is no longer supported on 18.04, so I suggest running ubuntu-support-status to confirm your security status (if security matters to you). — guiverc, Jun 16 '22 at 09:40

raj · Answer 1 · 2022-06-16T13:27:52.140

3

Ubuntu is not Windows; in Windows, update mechanisms are usually built into each application separately, for example Firefox has it's own auto-update mechanism. In Ubuntu it's different; if you are looking for a way to disable Firefox auto-update in Firefox itself, you won't find it there, because it's updated by the system updater (which updates all software packages in the system), and not by itself. There is an answer to a different question asked recently which explains in detail how Ubuntu updates work and how you can stop particular package from being updated.

In short: you don't have to run auto-updates. You can switch the updates to be manually triggered whenever you want (or not), you can select (on each update) which packages you want to update, you can disable some packages from updating "permanently" (ie. until you revert it), or you can even completely turn update check off.

Myself, I always switch Ubuntu to manual updates right after installation, so it never updates without my knowledge.

edited Jun 16 '22 at 13:27

answered Jun 16 '22 at 13:22

raj

10,353

I've already spent days to disable any auto-updating and home pinging, including all the motd notifications in PAM. I have set Ubuntu update to "never". Firefox, however, provided by Canonical has updated without my consent. Hence the question. I don't use Windows, no google, no chrome, no cloud and I take care of security myself and when it matters. I've been in and out of Linux for 30 years and mainly deal with Redhat stuff. – MaxUbuntu Jun 16 '22 at 14:33
I have updates set as @raj has it; no auto updates, neither so on Firefox. There might be Add-ons that auto update though, e.g. uBlock Origin – Hannu Jun 16 '22 at 16:51
In case you missed it, the canonical distribution of FF included doesn't have a don't install update option. And it did update despite setting Ubuntu software updates to "never". That's why I have removed all canonical FF and downloaded and installed the one from ftp.mozilla.org. What happened, however, was that Firefox upon starting immediately started to download the latest version, before I could even go into Preferences to set it to Check, but don't download. So I deleted it again, installed again. This time however, Preferences shows me a blue face and a link where to download the update. – MaxUbuntu Jun 16 '22 at 17:09
@MaxUbuntu Yes, Firefox itself does not have any option to control updates at all, because that is controlled on system level - that's exactly what I wrote. Are you sure you have DEB version of Firefox and not a Snap version? Because Snaps are updated automatically and you can't do anything about it. I have a DEB version and it never updated automatically without me manually clicking the update. If you have Snap, then uninstall it and install a DEB package. – raj Jun 16 '22 at 17:49
I removed Snap, but I'm pretty sure it was canonical FF. – MaxUbuntu Jun 16 '22 at 21:58

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 16 '22 at 10:09

2

Removing Firefox will not remove the cinnamon desktop. It only may remove the cinnamon-desktop-environment metapackage if you do not have another browser (firefox-ers, chromium or www-browser) installed.

A metapackage is not more than a "shopping list". It does not install files by its own. It only lists a number of packages as dependencies, that are installed during installation of the metapackage. Removing the metapackage will not remove any other components of the desktop environment.

So there is no harm in seeing the package removed. You can reinstall it any time to pull back in any packages considered default for a cinnamon desktop on Ubuntu.

answered Jun 16 '22 at 10:09

vanadium

88,010

It shows to uninstall "cinnamon-desktop-environment" indeed, which is misleading. I already downloaded Firefox ESR from the Mozilla ftp site and copied it to /opt. It allows me to check "Check for updates but let me choose to install", but how to integrate it into the desktop and menu is another task. I'm quite annoyed about at the moment. – MaxUbuntu Jun 16 '22 at 10:32
That is the metapackage, so if it is removed, no harm done. An installation by manually copying into /opt is not managed by the package management system, so will make no difference in the dependencies. – vanadium Jun 16 '22 at 10:37

Replace Firefox without uninstalling desktop environment in 18.04

2 Answers2