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--- start:firefoxesr [2022/03/23 19:51] – peter
+++ start:firefoxesr [2023/08/30 20:35] (current) – peter
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-On Ubuntu this is very easy since it comes with a snap of Firefox already.
+DATE CHECKED THIS PAGE WAS VALID: 30/08/2023
-So for Ubuntu changing to the ESR version is just opening a terminal and running some snap commands.
+As we are running a testing version of Debian, it is crucial to take extra precautions in protecting the box against malicious vectors.
+Unfortunately the web browser is one of the best ways to be compromised, and to ensure that we protect a testing box, we will move to a sandboxed environment with strict containment (snapd) of Firefox esr. While some people have misgivings about snap, it is a better security model and we will take advantage of that here as we are using testing as a daily driver.
-Open a terminal and list your snaps:
+So in Debian lets open a terminal and type:
+(Note: If you have a firefox profile you have been using you will need to back that up or you will lose all your tabs/saved passwords etc if you dont make a copy first.)
 <code>
-snap list
+sudo apt-get purge firefox-esr
 </code>
-Now lets get info on firefox:
+You will note that if you read the output Debian must have a web browser installed as part of its apt requirements (untrue on debian 12?) so it will suggest chromium instead of Firefox. We will accept this recommendation and just press y. We want a sandboxed version of Firefox for daily use and will keep chromium as a backup browser in case we need it.
+If it does not ask to install another browser you can do it by:
 <code>
-snap info firefox
+sudo apt-get install chromium
 </code>
-When it completes the ESR version of FF will be installed:
+Now we need to install snaps:
-It is very easy to use snap as you can see. For Debian we have to do a bit more as snap is not installed by default.
+<code>
+sudo apt-get autoremove
-So in Debian lets open a terminal:
+sudo apt-get install snapd
+sudo apt-get install gnome-software-plugin-snap
+sudo systemctl list-unit-files | grep snap
+sudo systemctl start snapd.service
+sudo snap search firefox
+sudo snap info firefox
+sudo snap install firefox --channel=esr/stable
+sudo reboot
+</code>
+(Reboot is done or snap doesn't seem to initialize properly and add firefox to your list of apps in the activities menu. I did take a quick look for a service that needed started but wasn't able to see one really quickly so just moved on. Everything works as expected after the reboot anyway but feel free to poke around a bit more if you want to try avoid rebooting. Most likely something isn't initialized right after install of snapd.)
+Firefox is now working as the ESR snap on Debian also :)
-{{:images:snaprefreshubu.png?400|}}
+=== Notes ===
+Notes:

Make Debian Fun Again And Learn How To Do Other Cool Stuff Too

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