Learn in simple steps how to have installed the GNOME desktop on your Debian 8 system.
What is GNOME?
GNOME is the derivation of the following:
GNU Network Object Model Environment or Environment of Object Modeling over the GNU Network and is currently in 166 languages.
Jul 3, 2018 - Desktop Shortcut creation with gnome-desktop-item-edit. System as root or via sudo command will be required to install new software. In this tutorial we will be creating an example desktop shortcut. It's as easy as 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. NVIDIA GeForce Driver Installation on Debian Jessie Linux 8 64bit. Jun 23, 2015 Install debian 5 dengan cepat dan benar turtorial Cara Install Debian 5 (OS) GNU/Linux cara singkat belajar menginstall debian untuk ujian pratikum.
For this tutorial, we will use Debian 8 and use the tasksel command
What is Tasksel?
Tasksel is a command that offers us various alternatives for the configuration of our Linux environments in a practical, dynamic and transparent way.
Taskel Command Options
With tasksel, we can use the following options if we introduce the following command. It allows us to display all the tasks available for the running distro.
From there we can define what feature to install.
- tasksel: Using this option directly from the terminal we can see the graphics desktops and there choose the option that we wish to add. There we simply select the program with the spacebar and click OK.
Recommendations Before Install GNOME on Debian 8
Before starting the GNOME installation process it is advisable to update all the Debian 8 packages using the following commands:
Install GNOME on Debian 8 using taskel graphical mode
We have two options to install the GNOME environment in Debian 8. The first way we have at hand for installing GNOME is using the graphical interface mentioned above, for this we will do the following:
We access the graphical environment of tasksel by entering as root users or typing the following line:
In the graphic window select GNOME with the spacebar and click OK. It will automatically start the process of installing GNOME packages on Debian 8.
Install GNOME on Debian 8 using the command line
The other alternative with which we can install GNOME is using the terminal directly and entering the following command. There we accept the download, and we hope that all the packages will be downloaded and installed.
As we know during the process of installing Debian 8 we are allowed to create the root user exclusively, so with this user the GNOME environment will be disabled, for this we must create an access user using the following command:
Once we have executed the previous steps we proceed to restart the system using the following command.
This will allow all changes to the interface to be made properly.
Once the system is restarted, we will see the GNOME environment.
Uninstall GNOME on Debian 8
If for some reason like performance, stability or taste we want to remove GNOME from Debian 8 we must open the terminal and enter the following command.
This will disable all the GNOME components of the Debian Operating System 8.
We have seen how we can establish and install GNOME on Debian 8 in a practical way and we will undoubtedly have a nice interface, with great benefits and easy to use for all everyday Linux users.
Rating: 4.8/5. From 6 votes.
… or any other Linux distribution.
This how-to explains how to install Firefox 70 on Linux, with or without replacing an existing Firefox installation.
Firefox 70 was released on October 22, 2019.
Firefox 71 will be released on December 03, 2019.
Firefox 71 will be released on December 03, 2019.
More information on Firefox release dates (including beta, nightly and ESR versions) can be found on the official RapidRelease calendar.
Warning for inexperienced Linux users: stick to the Firefox version included with your Linux distribution! Firefox can be installed or uninstalled through the package management system (aka. Software Center, Software Manager, Synaptic, apt…) of all major distributions. Concerning updates: they will appear automatically in the package manager. It may take a few days after the official Firefox release for the update to appear, because the new release has to be tested with each distribution.
Summary
A. Install Firefox 70 in 5 easy steps
B. Ubuntu’s case, Mint and Debian
C. Uninstall Firefox
D. Run multiple profiles or instances at the same time
B. Ubuntu’s case, Mint and Debian
C. Uninstall Firefox
D. Run multiple profiles or instances at the same time
A. Install Firefox in 5 easy steps
1. Download
Download Firefox from the official Mozilla Firefox page:
www.mozilla.com/firefox/
Download alternative versions (beta, developer edition, nightly) from the official channels page:
www.mozilla.com/firefox/channels/
A 64 bit build is also available in the x86_64 directory of Mozilla’s FTP.
www.mozilla.com/firefox/
Download alternative versions (beta, developer edition, nightly) from the official channels page:
www.mozilla.com/firefox/channels/
A 64 bit build is also available in the x86_64 directory of Mozilla’s FTP.
This how-to supposes that the downloaded file is saved in the “Downloads” directory located in your home directory.
2. Extract
The downloaded file is a compressed .tar.bz2 archive. In case you want to learn more on these extensions: tar, bzip2. To extract this juicy archive, open the Downloads directory. Look for a file named firefox-70.0.tar.bz2, right-click on it and select “extract here”.
Alternatively, you can extract the archive from the command line:
cd ~/Downloads/
tar xjf firefox-70.0.tar.bz2
For those interested, here are the tar arguments used in the command:
x : eXtract
j : deal with bzipped file
f : read from a file (rather than a tape device)
x : eXtract
j : deal with bzipped file
f : read from a file (rather than a tape device)
The firefox-70.0.tar.bz2 archive can now be deleted.
3. Move to /opt
External programs like LibreOffice, Google Chrome, the defunct Adobe reader, … are all installed in the /opt directory. If you want more info about why /opt is the right place to install programs on Linux, check out these two links:
Where to install my products on Linux?
Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
Where to install my products on Linux?
Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
You may need to create /opt first:
sudo mkdir /opt
On the contrary, if you already had a previous Firefox version installed in the /opt directory, remove it with the following command:
sudo rm -r /opt/firefox
Now move the Firefox directory (which was created in your Downloads folder during extraction) to /opt:
sudo mv firefox /opt/firefox70
4. Set up symbolic links
Depending on your usage pattern, follow the instructions for case 1 OR for case 2.
Case 1: you want to use Firefox 70 as your default browser:
“Backup” the old Firefox launcher:
sudo mv /usr/bin/firefox /usr/bin/firefox-old
Create a symbolic link pointing to the new Firefox version:
sudo ln -s /opt/firefox70/firefox /usr/bin/firefox
There is no need to update your icons/shortcuts; they should now launch the new version of Firefox.
Your old Firefox version is still available. If you want to use it, run
firefox-old
in a terminal or create shortcuts/icons referring to firefox-old
.
Case 2: you want to keep using your “old” Firefox by default:
Create a symbolic link pointing to the new Firefox version:
sudo ln -s /opt/firefox70/firefox /usr/bin/firefox70
Launch the newly installed Firefox by running
firefox70
in a terminal, or create shortcuts/icons referring to firefox70
.
5. Updates
Firefox will manage its own updates independently of your system’s package manager, an download subsequent releases. There will be no need to repeat the whole “procedure”… Enjoy Firefox!
B. Ubuntu’s case, Linux Mint and Debian
1. Ubuntu: no ubuntu-mozilla-daily ppa!
Many howtos on this subject will tell you to install Firefox pre-versions through Mozilla’s ppaubuntu-mozilla-daily. Using this ppa will not only install the latest Firefox 72 daily build, once called “minefield” – updated daily! It will also update your current Firefox and Thunderbird to test versions.
These testing versions are not meant to be stable or usable.
→ Avoid this ppa unless you know exactly what you’re doing!
→ Avoid this ppa unless you know exactly what you’re doing!
2. The official Firefox Beta ppa: mozillateam firefox-next
The firefox-next ppa will replace your current Firefox installation with the current available version in Mozillas Beta channel. Simply run these two commands in a terminal:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-next
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
Note: you can use only one of these channels (Beta or Daily) at the same time!
4. Official Ubuntu updates for Firefox (automatic)
Ubuntu updates its repositories to the newest Firefox version only a few days after the official release – so does Linux Mint. Here are a few examples of how many days Ubuntu and Linux Mint need to push the update:
- Ubuntu: Firefox 47 was released on June 7, 2016. The update showed up on June 13, only 6 days after the official Firefox release.
- Linux Mint: Firefox 63 was released on October 23, 2018. MintUpdate dispatched the update on October 27, only 4 days after the official release.
- Linux Mint: Firefox 65 was released on January 29, 2019. MintUpdate dispatched the update on January 31, only 2 days after the official release.
5. Linux Mint 19.2 “Tina”, Debian 10 “Buster”, Manjaro Linux, …
This howto has been tested with success on the following distributions, with Firefox 4 to 70 and Firefox Beta:
CentOS / Scientific Linux / RHEL 6.10 & 7.7 & 8.0
Debian 9.x “Stretch” (support until 2020)
Debian 10.x “Buster” (support until 2022)
Linux Mint 18 “Sarah” LTS (support until April 2021 for all 18.x releases)
Linux Mint 18.1 “Serena”
Linux Mint 18.2 “Sonya”
Linux Mint 18.3 “Sylvia”
Linux Mint 19 “Tara” LTS (support until April 2023 for all 19.x releases)
Linux Mint 19.1 “Tessa”
Linux Mint 19.2 “Tina”
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS “Xenial Xerus” (Long Term Support, until April 2021)
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS “Bionic Beaver” (support until April 2023)
Ubuntu 19.04 “Disco Dingo” (support until January 2020)
Ubuntu 19.10 “Eoan Ermine” (support until July 2020)
Manjaro Linux 18.1 “Juhraya”
Debian 9.x “Stretch” (support until 2020)
Debian 10.x “Buster” (support until 2022)
Linux Mint 18 “Sarah” LTS (support until April 2021 for all 18.x releases)
Linux Mint 18.1 “Serena”
Linux Mint 18.2 “Sonya”
Linux Mint 18.3 “Sylvia”
Linux Mint 19 “Tara” LTS (support until April 2023 for all 19.x releases)
Linux Mint 19.1 “Tessa”
Linux Mint 19.2 “Tina”
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS “Xenial Xerus” (Long Term Support, until April 2021)
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS “Bionic Beaver” (support until April 2023)
Ubuntu 19.04 “Disco Dingo” (support until January 2020)
Ubuntu 19.10 “Eoan Ermine” (support until July 2020)
Manjaro Linux 18.1 “Juhraya”
This installation procedure is reliable and should work with a wide range of distributions. Please share your experience with OpenSuse and Fedora in the comments.
C. Uninstall/remove Firefox (non-ppa installations)
Remove the Firefox directory:
sudo rm -r /opt/firefox70
You should also consider changing back or removing symbolic links which pointed to the old Firefox directory. Use this command:
sudo mv /usr/bin/firefox-old /usr/bin/firefox
Or remove the
firefox70
symlink:sudo rm
/usr/bin/firefox70
D. Run multiple Firefox profiles and instances simultaneously
Problem: it is possible to run different Firefox versions with the same profile (profiles are compatible through major versions). However this is not very convenient, as Firefox will check the profiles extensions and plugins every time you start a newer or older version.
Solution: create a profile for each Firefox version. Create new profiles with:
firefox -no-remote -ProfileManager
The
-no-remote
option starts a new instance of Firefox even if there is already a Firefox instance running. Use the -no-remote
option to run Firefox 70 and Firefox 71 instances at the same time.
Let’s say that you’ve created two profiles: ffox70-profile and ffox71-profile. You can start one instance of Firefox 70 and one instance of Firefox 71 with the following commands:
firefox
-no-remote
-P ffox70-profile
firefox71
-no-remote
-P ffox71-profile
E. Create desktop shortcuts / launchers / icons
Now you may create desktop shortcuts / icons / launchers (Gnome: Custom Application Launcher) for each of these Firefox versions with their respective profiles.
By Johannes Eva, December 2010 – October 2019
Read also:
How to install LibreOffice 6.3 on Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Debian…
How to set default programs on Linux Mint or Ubuntu
How to install LibreOffice 6.3 on Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Debian…
How to set default programs on Linux Mint or Ubuntu