Installing Firefox via APT on Ubuntu | Generated by AI

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This guide details how to install Firefox from the Mozilla APT repository on Ubuntu, replacing the default Snap package.

Why use the APT version?

While the Snap version is convenient, some users prefer the APT version for better integration and performance.

Steps:

  1. Uninstall the Firefox Snap:

    sudo snap remove firefox

  2. Create an APT keyring directory (if it doesn’t exist):

    sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings

  3. Import the Mozilla APT repo signing key:

    wget -q https://packages.mozilla.org/apt/repo-signing-key.gpg -O- | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc > /dev/null

    If wget is missing, install it first: sudo apt install wget

  4. Add the Mozilla repository to your sources list:

    echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc] https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozilla.list > /dev/null

  5. Set package priority to prefer the Mozilla DEB:

    This prevents Ubuntu’s transition package from reinstalling the Snap.

    echo '
Package: *
Pin: origin packages.mozilla.org
Pin-Priority: 1000

Package: firefox*
Pin: release o=Ubuntu
Pin-Priority: -1' | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozilla

  6. Remove the Ubuntu Firefox DEB (if present) and install the Mozilla version:

    sudo apt update && sudo apt remove firefox
sudo apt install firefox

Now you have Firefox installed from the official Mozilla APT repository!

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