How to Install Firefox Next, Quantum Linux Mint 20

Mozilla Firefox is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation. Firefox utilizes the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current and future anticipated web formats and standards.

For the most part, Firefox is often up to date with the latest stable release on Linux Mint and Ubuntu-based desktops, however non-stable builds such as beta or the more bleeding edge nightly builds can be installed tested the new features or test your websites before its hits the stable repository.

For the most part, the beta build is what curious users should be installing, and the nightly build should never be used by anyone other than sysadmins or developers looking to test a particular feature.

In the tutorial, you will learn how to add and install the beta and nightly build for Firefox using a PPA maintained by the Mozilla team.

Prerequisites

• Recommended OS: Linux Mint 20 or higher.
• User account: A user account with sudo or root access.

Update Operating System

Update your Linux Mint operating system to make sure all existing packages are up to date:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

The tutorial will be using the sudo command and assuming you have sudo status.

To verify sudo status on your account:

sudo whoami

Example output showing sudo status:

[joshua@linuxmint ~]$ sudo whoami
root

To set up an existing or new sudo account, visit our tutorial on Adding a User to Sudoers on Linux Mint.

To use the root account, use the following command with the root password to log in.

su

The tutorial will be utilizing the terminal, and for those unfamiliar, this can be found in your show applications menu.

Example:

Firefox Next (Beta)

Install the FireFox Beta

The first option and the most recommended if you want to try a non-stable release is to install the beta build. To do this, you will need to import the ppa:mozillateam/firefox-next.

Before you begin, check to see what the browser version of Firefox installed is.

firefox --version 

Example output:

Mozilla Firefox 94.0

Next, open your terminal (CTRL+ALT+T) and add the Firefox Next PPA.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-next -y

Unlike Ubuntu, the Linux Mint default repository will outrank the beta version that you will try to install from the PPA. So you will need to set up APT Pinning.

First, open or create a preferences file.

sudo nano /etc/apt/preferences

Next, add the following code.

Package: *
Pin: release o=linuxmint
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: firefox
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-mozillateam-firefox-next
Pin-Priority: 900

Package: *
Pin: release o=Ubuntu
Pin-Priority: 500

Save the file CTRL+O, then exit CTRL+X.

The set-up above will make the Firefox package only use the PPA that you imported.

Once imported, update your APT repository listing.

sudo apt update

Now, make sure any existing Firefox browser windows are closed and execute the following command.

sudo apt install firefox -y

DO NOT UPGRADE EVEN WITH FIREFOX INSTALLED. USE THE INSTALL OPTION.

Once installed, check the version of Firefox.

firefox --version

Example output:

Mozilla Firefox 95.0b12

Open Firefox and open Help > About Firefox to confirm the version.

Example:

Remove Firefox Next & Roll back to Firefox Stable

In the future, if you no longer wish to have the beta build from Firefox installed, first remove the installation.

sudo apt remove firefox -y

Next, remove the Firefox Next PPA by adding the –remove flag onto the previous add-apt-repository command.

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:mozillateam/firefox-next  -y

Now update your APT repository listing to reflect the changes.

sudo apt update

Re-install the stable default version of Firefox.

sudo apt install firefox -y

Once installed, check the version of Firefox.

firefox --version

Example output:

Mozilla Firefox 94.0.1

And that’s it. You have successfully removed the nightly build from your Linux Mint desktop.

For users that will never want to use the nightly again, you can remove the preferences file. Note, this can be left especially if you may want to re-install the beta PPA and try out Firefox Next (Beta) in the future.

sudo rm /etc/apt/preferences

For users that have existing APT Pinning for another package, remove the Firefox package pin.

Firefox Firefox Quantum (Nightly)

Install the FireFox Nightly Build

The second option for those wanting to test the bleeding edge developer build of Firefox, which is named Firefox Quantum Nightly, you will need to install it from the ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa. The one benefit about these nightly builds is that Firefox Quantum is installed separately from the stable and beta builds.

First, open your terminal (CTRL+ALT+T) and add the Firefox Quantum Nightly Build.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa -y

Once imported, update your APT repository listing.

sudo apt update

Now, make sure any existing Firefox browser windows are closed and execute the following command.

sudo apt install firefox-trunk -y

Once installed, check the version of Firefox.

firefox-trunk --version

Example output:

Mozilla Firefox 96.0a1

The Firefox Quantum Nightly build icon will look slightly different from the standard Firefox icon with a unique name of Nightly Web Browser.

Example in show applications menu:

Example when opened:

Open Firefox and open Help > About Firefox to confirm the version.

Example:

Remove Firefox Quantum Nightly

In the future, if you no longer wish to have the beta build from Firefox installed, first remove the installation.

sudo apt remove firefox-trunk --purge -y

Next, remove the Firefox Quantum Nightly PPA by adding the –remove flag onto the previous add-apt-repository command.

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa -y

Now update your APT repository listing to reflect the changes.

sudo apt update

And that’s it. You have successfully removed the nightly build from your Linux Mint desktop.

Comments and Conclusion

In the tutorial, you have learned how to install Firefox Next (Beta) and the Firefox Quantum (Nightly) builds on your Linux Mint desktop. Remember, while testing new features is fun, they will often be unstable and no doubt have some bugs that may cause some security issues.

The beta would be the best bet for the average power user to install and leave the Quantum version to the professionals.