[Feature]: Official PPA for Firefox Beta

[robertkirkman]

Feature description

Using the normal Ubuntu 24.04 package of Firefox that comes from apt install firefox by default does not work because it depends on Snap.

DISPLAY=:1 firefox

Command '/usr/bin/firefox' requires the firefox snap to be installed.
Please install it with:

snap install firefox

[2]+  Exit 1                  DISPLAY=:1 firefox

snap install firefox

error: cannot communicate with server: Post "http://localhost/v2/snaps/firefox": dial unix /run/snapd.socket: connect: no such file or directory

On the other hand, by using these alternative commands, it is possible to install a build of Firefox into the Ubuntu Proot that does not depend on the snapd package in any way. It is maintained by a group within the Ubuntu organization called "Mozilla Team" . I originally thought that this was maintained by Mozilla directly but it is not, it is maintained by the "Ubuntu Mozilla Team".

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade -y
apt-get install software-properties-common
add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-next
cat <<EOF | tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/pin-mozilla-ppa
Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-mozillateam-firefox-next
Pin-Priority: 9999
EOF
apt-get update
apt-get install firefox
DISPLAY=:1 firefox

That works to run Firefox without requiring Snap within Ubuntu 22.04 and newer proots, including Ubuntu 24.04.

[robertkirkman]

I noticed that someone asked about Thunderbird and there's also one for Thunderbird that is identical except it has Thunderbird without Snap instead of Firefox without Snap, so here are the commands for that one also:

add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/thunderbird-next
cat <<EOF | tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/pin-thunderbird-ppa
Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-mozillateam-thunderbird-next
Pin-Priority: 9999
EOF
apt-get update
apt-get install thunderbird

[robertkirkman]

I went ahead and made a comparison screenshot of most of the primary Mozilla apps available for Termux:X11 that come as .deb format packages.

On the left are those in Debian 12 from proot-distro install debian,
In the middle are those from the PPAs running in the Ubuntu proot, from proot-distro install ubuntu
and on the right are those which are built for Termux and run outside of the proot. They come from pkg install firefox thunderbird.
It's clear there is some variation between these versions, so this screenshot might be helpful for people trying to decide which version they need.

[RalfWerner]

I went ahead and made a comparison screenshot of most of the primary Mozilla apps available for Termux:X11

Thanks, I currently only use the native versions of the two Mozilla XClients and mostly Thunderbird. However, on different devices (arch/size) with different XServers. The Termux:X11 XServer seems to be the best one at the moment for being able to use the XClients with your fingers even on small mobile phones. As a window/desktop manager (WM) I tend to use simple XClients (Openbox, Fluxbox). But the ones from Mozilla don't work without them.

However, there are a few problems that lie in the XClient itself. My attempts to solve them via bugzilla or the de forum have so far been unsuccessful. I have opened an issue in my repo (in progress) where I would like to investigate further.