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So a few days ago I downloaded Firefox Developer Edition (v58 then) in a home folder and executed it from there directly. I created a .desktop file to have a launcher, which pointed to the executable in the appropriate home folder, and when I opened for the first time it prompted me to make it the default browser, so I did - Firefox from repos is also installed, but I planned to stop using it and start using developer edition instead.

So the problem is the following. I have set that when Firefox opens up - that is, when I first open it after I open my pc- a number of urls are opened in tabs - let's think of them as "Starting page tabs".

Suppose I have some messenger app open - not in firefox, a seperate app. Signal Messenger, Discord, Skype for Linux etc.

When someone sent me a link to open, when I clicked on it to open it what happened was that a new tab with the url opened in an already open firefox window. And that was the desired action. That was the case, while I was using Firefox stable version.

When I started using Firefox Developer Edition, and set it as default browser, that is not the case any more. Every time I try to open a URL sent in an outside messenger application, what happens is that the sites I have set as "Starting page tabs" open up inside an already open Firefox window, and the url I wanted to go to is not opened at all.

The system is Ubuntu 16.04 with Unity.

Noob Doob
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  • https://askubuntu.com/questions/4919/clicking-urls-opens-a-new-tab-in-firefox?rq=1 – garakchy Nov 12 '17 at 00:28
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    I should be clear. The link is opened in applications outside firefox. While using stable version, that resulted in just a tab opening in an open firefox window. – Noob Doob Nov 12 '17 at 01:42
  • The link is opened from* applications outside firefox. Updated the question. – Noob Doob Nov 12 '17 at 01:48
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    You should expect bugs and/or glitches in software versions which are still under development. Instead of asking here you should file a bug-report against firefox. – mook765 Nov 12 '17 at 03:34
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    I asked here, because opening a link equals calling the executable of the default browser with certain parameters, so it might as well just be that I need to add something somewhere to make the browser be called with correct parameters. I will also file a bug in Mozilla as you suggested, nonetheless. – Noob Doob Nov 12 '17 at 13:03
  • see also Link clicked not passed to firefox – dexteritas Jul 30 '18 at 09:13
  • In my case, Slack opened links in new Firefox windows no matter what I tried. Then I uninstalled Slack as a snap package, and installed it as an apt package instead, that fixed the issue. My theory is snap is so contained, it cannot tap into existing processes <-- but I really don't know what I'm talking about : ) – kvz Sep 10 '19 at 09:08

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Turns out, my .desktop file was incomplete. To make sure it works, I copied the stable Firefox .desktop file, and changed it so that the Exec lines pointed to the Developer's edition executable and the Icon clause pointed to Developer's edition icon. Also changed the launcher name wherever needed - for English language only though. Now the links work as intended.

Noob Doob
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