[SOLVED] Installing new Firefox 57 Quantum

[dermage1]

Has anyone here installed the new Firefox 57 Quantum ? After downloading the zip file for the the new Firefox (57 Quantum), I was unable to find the correct file in the unzipped folder according to installation instructions found online for Linux. Any Help ?

[kukamuumuka]

At the first glance, Quantum looked like browser-hijacker would occupied the browser. I did not like.

[Moem]

Any Help ?

Sure. Wait a day or so and the update will appear in your update manager. What's the rush?

[Hoser Rob]

I just tried the dl from the mozilla site ... I ONLY download those things from the dev site, when I do dl them, which is rarely.

There only seems to be a tar file option, which works the same as a zip file in Linux generally for installing. This is not a good idea for something like a browser. Actually, in Linux beginners are not encouraged to install this way.

Software that comes in a tarball has to be compiled and built from source. This is difficult for noobs and, more importantly, doesn't use the apt packaging system you use in apt-get or software manager opr synaptic.

This is also used by the Mint Update Manager, which means software updates will not appear on the update list. You have to check yourself to see if there's an update, and then re compile and build it all over again.

Which means it's likely you'll end up using a browser that isn't updated, which is VERY insecure, in any OS. Bad idea.

The last time I ever installed from a tar file was a backported wireless driver for my netbook, which is kind of necessary.

[lordmax]

Really strange

In Windows firefox 57 is already updated... automatically
In windows the portable version of firefox is already upgraded to 57... automatically

In linux not, no way without a manual installation

I can't believe this

[Flemur]

In linux not, no way without a manual installation
I can't believe this

That all OSs don't update 3rd party software at the same time? When do Macs, Androids and Unix platforms update?

After downloading the zip file for the the new Firefox (57 Quantum),

A zip file? I installed FF57 from file "firefox-57.0.tar.bz2". Zip files are generally for Windows (?).

[lordmax]

In linux not, no way without a manual installation
I can't believe this

That all OSs don't update 3rd party software at the same time? When do Macs, Androids and Unix platforms update?

I don't know for macs but my android is updated.
It's update yesterday to the 57 version

my windows is updated

my mint isn't updated
And it's not possible to force it

You have to remove the ppa version and install a tar version forgetting every future automatic update

And YES, a day or two can be important for who works on different OSs at the same time

[Teksonik]

This simply adds credence to those who say Mint lags behind other Distros. 57 is still not offered in the Update Manager here although I did get a javascript engine update delivered this morning. I'm in no hurry to get FF57 but if this was a security update lagging behind is obviously not a good thing. I love Mint and won't change Distros but I also don't use it for tasks where security is of the utmost importance (banking etc). Others will no doubt vehemently disagree but such is life.......

[Flemur]

my mint isn't updated
And it's not possible to force it

My Mint installation is updated because I "forced" it. If I wanted to I could install FF58 beta versions.

Edit:
Since firefox isn't part of Windows, it's updating itself. Windows isn't updating it.
If you install FF in Linux the same way you'd install it in Windows, you can update the same way:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/up ... st-version
"Click the menu button New Fx Menu , click help Help-29 and select About Firefox.
The About Mozilla Firefox window will open and Firefox will begin checking for updates and downloading them automatically. "
"This article only applies if you installed Firefox manually (without using your distribution's package manager)."

Namely it applies if you installed FF the same way you installed FF in windows.

[Moem]

my mint isn't updated

Mine is getting the update right now.

[Teksonik]

Both of my active Mint installs just updated. Not too fond of the look in Cinnamon so far. Too early to tell if there is a performance boost. Oh well it is what it is....

My Add Ons were not disabled on this computer. But I only have uBlock, Mouse Gesture Events, and HTTPS Everywhere installed. The only Legacy Add Ons are themes.

EDIT: On this system the add on "Fire Gestures" was made Legacy. I don't recommend "Gesturefy" which 57 offered up as a replacement since it asked for permission "To Modify Downloads" (??) among other things. Seems too invasive so I prefer "Mouse Gesture Events" instead.

[Teksonik]

Make sure you check the settings to see if anything should be changed like.....

FF 111617-1.jpg

[Mattyboy]

Talking of Legacy Add Ons... the update 'killed' noscript ( apparently 10 is coming soon ) and Agent Switcher..... irritating.

[karlchen]

Has anyone here installed the new Firefox 57 Quantum ?

The update-manager took care of the update from Firefox 56.0 to 57.0.
No need to fiddle around manually with anything.

[377Ohms]

Help please. Noob here, FF57 is a big problem...

I installed Firefox 57 Quantum when Update Manager recommended it. None of my add-ons work now (not even No-Script) but more importantly I have had problems with my bookmarks disappearing (yes I did back up my bookmarks before the FF57 update).

Question: How can I go back to before the Firefox 57 update or uninstall Firefox 57 entirely and install Firefox 52ESR for awhile until Firefox 57 gets fixed? This is simple to do in Windows, but I don't know how to do this in Linux Mint. I don't want to go back to Windows because it is slow, bloated and spies on me now.

Note: I'm using Mint Cinnamon v17.2 32-bit. I can't update to 18.x yet, maybe 18.3 will work when it comes out (I must use the Onboard keyboard and my laptop takes a really long time to shut down in 18.1/18.2). I use 32-bit Mint because it works better in my Lenovo S20 11.6" laptop with only 2GB SDRAM which is soldered in and can't be upgraded (damn Lenovo). I can't update from 17.2 to 17.3 because of a very hard to fix wireless driver issue that doesn't get fixed natively until Mint 18.1+ when the Onboard keyboard and long shutdown problems appear. So I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place right now in Mint Cinnamon 17.2.

Thank You, David

[bertradio]

Just upgraded to FF57 on Linux Mint 18.2. No problems, just some addons to either remove or update -- hope NoScript becomes compatible soon. FF57 is FAST -- a lot faster than 56 or Chrome on my Mint and Win10 systems.

[377Ohms]

Restoring Missing Bookmarks in my Firefox 57...

After (regretfully) allowing the update to Firefox 57 (32-bit) in Mint Cinnamon v17.2 32-bit, when clean starting Firefox 57 occasionally my browser will come up with no bookmarks or address bar entries at all.

I have not heard of this being a common problem, and it has happened to me only three times across around ten clean Firefox 57 starts in the past couple of days.

If this happens to you, DON'T PANIC. Bookmarks are still stored on the machine in automatic backup .jsonlz4 compressed files that can be restored. (Note: In comparison, manually created bookmark backup files are stored in uncompressed .json files.) At the bottom of this post I'll provide instructions on restoring the bookmarks.

Automatic bookmark backup files seem to be updated automatically in real time and stored on a daily basis rotated every 15 days or so. The .jsonlz4 compressed backup files are in the hidden .mozilla dot-directory tree here:

Code: Select all

/home/username/.mozilla/firefox/********.default/bookmarkbackups

Where 'username' is your username and '********' is a unique string for each Firefox install.

This is what a couple of my auto-backup bookmark files looks like:

Code: Select all

-rw-------  1 drone drone 1534703 Nov 15 06:16 bookmarks-2017-11-15_10503_tEXWF7cT4Tx3ASrX+Wxq7Q==.jsonlz4
-rw-------  1 drone drone 1535790 Nov 16 00:11 bookmarks-2017-11-16_10509_U4giV3CQLaUumoOdmpSP-A==.jsonlz4

* To Restore the Missing Bookmarks:

1. In Firefox navigate here: Bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks. Now the Library window will appear. In the Library window navigate here: Import and Backup > Restore.

2. A fly-out will appear showing all of the daily backup files and the number of items in each file. Click the latest file that has a lot of items in it to start the restoration process. Ignore any (useless) backup files that have like only 5 items in them. These empty bookmark backup files seem to be created by Firefox 57 sometimes when it starts with no bookmarks loaded.

3. After you select the backup file to restore, if you have a LOT of bookmarks to restore (like thousands) BE PATIENT. It seems Firefox takes a little while to rebuild the bookmarks database and there is NO progress bar or other indication that the restoration is ongoing (really bad UI design). Don't try to use Firefox during the restoration, just leave it alone. For example, It takes around 15 minutes to restore around 10K bookmarks on my little underpowered Celeron N2840 laptop.

4. When the restoration is done, you will automatically see all your bookmarks reappear in the Library window.

[377Ohms]

-- hope NoScript becomes compatible soon.

Scraped from https://noscript.net/ on Friday 17 Nov. 2017 at 08:33 UTC:

Where's NoScript for Firefox 57 "Quantum"?

2017-11-14: We're working hard to make NoScript for Quantum available to you as soon as possible, definitely by the end of this week.

Please be patient: if you feel naked while you're waiting for the "brand new" NoScript, you can still use the "regular" NoScript 5.x (and all the other extensions of yours) on Firefox 52 ESR [https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all], which will receive security updates until June 2018. See you soon!

[Pierre]

Has anyone here installed the new Firefox 57 Quantum ?

The update-manager took care of the update from Firefox 56.0 to 57.0.
No need to fiddle around manually with anything.

the new FF57 update, made it down-under - overnight.

looks a bit clunky, when compared to FF56, though.

[karlchen]

the new FF57 update [...] looks a bit clunky, when compared to FF56, though.

Hm. Yes and no. Yes, compared to FF56.0 beautified by CTR. No, compared to FF56.0 pure.


(Click on screenshot to enlarge. Press <alt><cursor left> to return here.)

Already started pimping its dull black on gray areas a bit, just a tiny little bit.