Firefox Help: How to fix 'Updates Disabled by your system administrator'

[Cosmo.]

Low skilled users are always wrong.

Wrong. But they have by definition less experience.

[jhonsmaith3]

the question was how to remove the message and this is the solution

create the file /etc/firefox/policies/policies.json
done. When firefox tries to read the file it will get a error:Error parsing JSON file: SyntaxError: JSON.parse: unexpected end of data at line 1 column 1 of the JSON data
because of this error, The firefox enterprise service will be disabled.
This does not renable updates through.

[jhonsmaith3]

[Cosmo.]

And the purpose of this silly hack? Self-deception?

[jhonsmaith3]

And the purpose of this silly hack? Self-deception?

The OP asked how to fix it, and this is the solution. They wanted to remove the message and this removes it.

[karlchen]

The OP asked how to fix it, and this is the solution. They wanted to remove the message and this removes it.

The issue is purely cosmetic. As a consequence there is no problem which requires fixing by any Linux Mint Firefox user.
Various participants in this thread have explained so more or less verbosely. Starts with spamegg's reply right below post #1.
The message has been repeated again and again and again throughout this thread.
But of course everybody is free to ignore all the given explanations and to search for solutions to a non-existant problem.

[Cosmo.]

The OP asked how to fix it, and this is the solution. They wanted to remove the message and this removes it.

Do you read before you write? The OP wrote:

I'd like to enable updates for Firefox

and the hacker wrote:

This does not renable updates through.

How can somebody mix the 2 simple words "enable" and "not re-enable" (even with a typo)? Such a misread is usually impossible, except by intention.

[Cosmo.]

Additional remark about the above hack:

If such a hack should be really successful, I would fear, that this might show a security leak in FF, because it would make it likely, that an attacker could redirect the "updates" to quite another target and expel the worst malware.

[Aftermath]

Your best solution to this is (if it truly is a problem, especially if you continue using this operating system version beyond it's end of life support date) using a stand alone version of the Firefox browser. You can find a tar file available at Firefox that you can extract into a directory such as /home/(whatever your user name is)/Downloads/(create a folder here entitled Firefox). Once extracted into the Firefox directory/folder find the Firefox file and open or run. To avoid always having to fish around for this file place a link on your desktop (works best with pcmanfm file manager). While using this stand alone version you will be able to check for updates by going to the far right side application menu (where three small straight lines appearing one underneath the other are the menu icon). From the application menu look for and click on Help. When menu advances to new set of options select About Firefox that will open the Firefox Browser Display where you will notice either a spinning circular motion or Firefox is up to date. You have to manually go through this procedure every-time you want to check for updates and have them installed automatically.

If you are using an outdated Linux operating system with no security support this might be the best alternative for at least some security update protection while using the Firefox browser on-line.

[Cosmo.]

It is not meaningful to provide a questionable instruction for the purpose to continue the usage of a not more supported Mint version. With this questionable instruction Firefox will not have the protection of a not-writable program folder, which is a matter of course for every modern OS. It makes Firefox open for malware injection.

[t42]

Your best solution to this is (if it truly is a problem, especially if you continue using this operating system version beyond it's end of life support date) using a stand alone version of the Firefox browser. You can find a tar file available at Firefox that you can extract into a directory such as /home/(whatever your user name is)/Downloads/(create a folder here entitled Firefox). Once extracted into the Firefox directory/folder find the Firefox file and open or run

edited:
I need to cite Cosmo in full here: "It is not meaningful to provide a questionable instruction for the purpose to continue the usage of a not more supported Mint version. With this questionable instruction Firefox will not have the protection of a not-writable program folder, which is a matter of course for every modern OS. It makes Firefox open for malware injection."

Still, if you know what you are doing using Firefox from Mozilla's FTP instead of the fully functional and self-updating Firefox from LM repository, extract it to and run from /opt :

1.
Download
https://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-latest&os=linux64&lang=en-US

2.
Extract

Code: Select all

sudo tar -xvjf firefox-104.0.tar.bz2 -C /opt

3. Link it

Code: Select all

sudo ln -s /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/bin/firefox-orig

4.
Create launcher
Right-click on the Desktop and choose Create a new launcher here...
In the Launcher Properties window browse from the Command field to /usr/bin/firefox-orig
In the name field enter Firefox-Original
Click on the generic icon on the left and browse to /opt/firefox/browser/chrome/icons/default/default48.png, select the icon, then click OK.
Press OK to Would you like to add this launcher to the menu also?

5.
The worst thing is that automatic updates are not possible, you need to repeat items 1 and 2 with each new FF release.

[karlchen]

Guys,

we are going in endless and useless circles here:

the update behaviour for Firefox, got from the official Mint software repository or from the official Ubuntu software repositories, has not changed for the past 15 years:
Software installed from and managed by the APT software management system will never update itself. The Linux Mint Update Manager will take care of this task and do so. The Firefox internal self-updater has been disabled in the Firefox repo packages all the time.

As a consequence, there is absolutely no problem, which requires any Linux Mint user to work around it or to fix it. <Period>
Ignoring this fact and parroting the same old workarounds for a non-existent problem is a waste of time and absurd.

Karl

[Cosmo.]

...

I had 2(!) objections against this instruction. The one was against storing the program on a user-writable place.

But I wrote more:

for the purpose to continue the usage of a not more supported Mint version.

The instruction has been given for a not acceptable purpose. Insofar the instruction is not only technically wrong, but also from intention not acceptable.

[t42]

But I wrote more:

That's true, sorry! I edited my comment accordingly in that part.

[LoVache]

[…]
The Firefox internal self-updater has been disabled in the Firefox repo packages all the time.

So you agree this Firefox is not genuine and only official version from Mozilla.

As a consequence, there is absolutely no problem, which requires any Linux Mint user to work around it or to fix it. <Period>
Ignoring this fact and parroting the same old workarounds for a non-existent problem is a waste of time and absurd.

Now I disagree with you because I remember Ubuntu-Mint's Firefox version took several days to be updated in repo packages when updates may often be necessary for security. It was also the case with Ubuntu-Mint's Thunderbird taking several weeks to be updated when genuine Mozilla's Thunderbird was (& still is) already updated for Ubuntu-Mint and working on Linux.
It's clearly an existent problem to me & that's why I removed both Ubuntu-Mint's Firefox & Thunderbird from my PC to replace these with genuine & official Mozilla's versions that may be quickly & not absurdly updated when it's defined as necessary by Mozilla.
Case solved to me.

2.
Extract

Code: Select all

sudo tar -xvjf firefox-104.0.tar.bz2 -C /opt

I extracted into /home/me/Applications/ and it works nicely being self updatable.

[Cosmo.]

So you agree this Firefox is not genuine and only official version from Mozilla.

No, you are wrong.

This is the official Mozilla page about installing FF, or must this at first be discussed? And what do we read there? The officially (bold, because some people seem to be in love with this word) recommended installing method given by Mozilla is to use the distribution's package manager.

And as this cannot get misinterpreted (only by bad bad will), the next information (for the 100th time): The Ubuntu-Mint teams do not disable anything, they do not even change a single sign in the source code; and without altering the source code no disabling of anything is possible at all. Program code cannot get changed by voodoo. If you do not believe it download the source codes (that is doable, because it is open source) and compare yourself. You are free to post any found differences (if you should find some).

Besides that: Which discussion is allegedly locked? I see your post (although wrong information, the more often it gets repeated, is getting every time more annoying) and I bet, that every user, who visits this site, can read it also. That means: You yourself are the evidence to the contrary of what you claim!

[Cosmo.]

I extracted into /home/me/Applications/ and it works nicely being self updatable.

Not to forget: You took the word security in your mouth, but at the same time you created a security leak! The Mozilla advice for advanced(!) users reads differently.

Hint: The very same mistake made user Aftermath some posts above. I would expect, that people learn by reading, and that they read before writing.

[dpmr]

I was browsing and came across this telling me I couldn’t change something in Firefox. WHATS THIS, can’t be, ff telling me I don’t have full control of my ff.

Has AOL come back to haunt us, no its Canonical this time, Wow, no way I will stand for this again. Took to the web to find what is going on, well I am not going to rehash that here.

I have to make my voice clear “DO NOT MESS WITH MY NETSCAPE” I don’t care what guise you use. I give up my personal right when you pry my cold dead hands off my keyboard.
I marched right over to Mozilla and said tell me its not so, ah well my poor laddie don’t fret, we have a Linux version right here for you,it will work just as well as you remember, I wiped the tears from I eyes and downloaded it and low and behold it’s back, I wrap my arms around my computer and had a good cry.

So the moral of the story(well at least the end) dumping the Ubuntu version for free one is simple as pie and works perfectly updates and all.

Hyatt,Hewitt and Ross would be proud their Phoenix still fly's.

[SMG]

So the moral of the story(well at least the end) dumping the Ubuntu version for free one is simple as pie and works perfectly updates and all.

How is this statement relevant to this topic? Linux Mint does not use an Ubuntu version. Linux Mint uses the "free one" from Mozilla that Mozilla creates for organizations. Linux Mint puts that "free one" into a package so you can update it through Update Manager and that's it. Nothing is changed and what you see is what comes straight from Mozilla.

Ubuntu actually uses a snap version which, if I recall correctly, you can also download from the Mozilla site. Linux Mint does not use snaps.

[karlchen]

Hello, dpmr.

As a matter of fact, the correct answer to the question, "How to fix 'Updates Disabled by your system administrator'", had been given in post #2 of this thread 11 months ago already.

You don't have to do anything. Read here: https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=4259

A slightly more detailled answer had been given in the 4th post of this thread, viewtopic.php?p=2146018#p2146018
Nothing to be added to that answer and post.
There is no need to re-circulate old misinformation and insinuations 11 months later.

Karl
(over & out)