How to install Firefox 57 Quantum on a Linux
M
y Linux distro comes with Firefox ESR. I read Firefox 57 is over twice as fast as Firefox from 6 months ago, built on a completely overhauled core engine with brand new technology. How do I installed newly released Firefox version 57 “Quantum” on a Linux operating system?
Yes, Firefox 57 is a whole new Firefox, built for faster page loading, smoother scrolling, and more responsive tab switching. These performance upgrades come paired with a modern, intuitive design. Start browsing and experience it for yourself: the best Firefox yet. This page shows how to install the latest version of Firefox 57 on a Linux operating system.
Step 1 – Download Firefox 57
Open the Terminal app and type the following wget command:
cd /tmp/
wget -L -O firefox.tar.bz2 https://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-latest-ssl&os=linux64&lang=en-US
Sample outputs:
–2017-11-15 19:16:36– https://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-latest-ssl&os=linux64&lang=en-US
Resolving download.mozilla.org (download.mozilla.org)… 35.164.27.94, 35.166.129.157, 52.40.102.214
Connecting to download.mozilla.org (download.mozilla.org)|35.164.27.94|:443… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 302 Found
Location: https://download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/57.0/linux-x86_64/en-US/firefox-57.0.tar.bz2 [following]
–2017-11-15 19:16:38– https://download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/57.0/linux-x86_64/en-US/firefox-57.0.tar.bz2
Resolving download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net (download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net)… 52.222.142.223
Connecting to download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net (download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net)|52.222.142.223|:443… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 200 OK
Length: 53575345 (51M) [application/x-tar]
Saving to: ‘firefox.tar.bz2’
firefox.tar.bz2 100%[===================================>] 51.09M 396KB/s in 1m 44s
2017-11-15 19:18:22 (505 KB/s) – ‘firefox.tar.bz2’ saved [53575345/53575345]
Step 2 – Extract (untar) Firefox 57
Untar the tar ball named firefox.tar.bz2 into your home directory, run:
mv firefox.tar.bz2 $HOME
tar xf firefox.tar.bz2
OR
tar xvf firefox.tar.bz2 -C $HOME
Sample outputs:
firefox/gtk2/libmozgtk.so
firefox/libfreeblpriv3.chk
firefox/libnssdbm3.so
firefox/libxul.so
firefox/libfreeblpriv3.so
firefox/firefox
firefox/browser/blocklist.xml
firefox/browser/crashreporter-override.ini
firefox/browser/omni.ja
firefox/browser/icons/mozicon128.png
firefox/browser/extensions/{972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd}.xpi
firefox/browser/chrome/icons/default/default32.png
firefox/browser/chrome/icons/default/default16.png
firefox/browser/chrome/icons/default/default48.png
firefox/browser/features/activity-stream@mozilla.org.xpi
firefox/browser/features/webcompat@mozilla.org.xpi
firefox/browser/features/followonsearch@mozilla.com.xpi
firefox/browser/features/e10srollout@mozilla.org.xpi
firefox/browser/features/formautofill@mozilla.org.xpi
firefox/browser/features/firefox@getpocket.com.xpi
firefox/browser/features/shield-recipe-client@mozilla.org.xpi
firefox/browser/features/screenshots@mozilla.org.xpi
firefox/browser/features/onboarding@mozilla.org.xpi
firefox/browser/features/aushelper@mozilla.org.xpi
firefox/browser/chrome.manifest
firefox/precomplete
firefox/libnssutil3.so
firefox/libplds4.so
firefox/liblgpllibs.so
firefox/update-settings.ini
firefox/libssl3.so
firefox/dictionaries/en-US.dic
firefox/dictionaries/en-US.aff
firefox/libnss3.so
firefox/libplc4.so
firefox/defaults/pref/channel-prefs.js
firefox/removed-files
firefox/libnssdbm3.chk
firefox/libnssckbi.so
firefox/gmp-clearkey/0.1/libclearkey.so
firefox/gmp-clearkey/0.1/manifest.json
firefox/fonts/EmojiOneMozilla.ttf
firefox/platform.ini
firefox/plugin-container
firefox/pingsender
firefox/dependentlibs.list
firefox/updater
firefox/libmozavutil.so
firefox/libmozavcodec.so
firefox/libmozsandbox.so
firefox/minidump-analyzer
firefox/omni.ja
firefox/application.ini
firefox/updater.ini
firefox/icons/updater.png
firefox/Throbber-small.gif
firefox/libnspr4.so
firefox/libmozsqlite3.so
firefox/firefox-bin
firefox/crashreporter
firefox/libsoftokn3.chk
firefox/libsmime3.so
firefox/libmozgtk.so
firefox/libsoftokn3.so
firefox/run-mozilla.sh
firefox/chrome.manifest
firefox/crashreporter.ini
firefox/icudt59l.dat
firefox/gmp-clearkey/0.1/libclearkey.so.sig
firefox/libxul.so.sig
firefox/firefox.sig
firefox/firefox-bin.sig
firefox/plugin-container.sig
Before launching firefox type the following command to kill all instance of older firefox using the killall command:
$ killall firefox
Step 3 – Start Firefox 57 from the CLI
Just type the following command:
$ ~/firefox/firefox
OR
$ ~/firefox/firefox &
Sample session (about box):
Fig.01: Firefox 57 in action
Firefox 57:
Fig.02: Firefox is really fast as compared to Firefox 52 ESR
Firefox 57 is faster as compared to both older version of Firefox and Chrome. Yes, it consumed less memory in my test while providing a smooth user experience.
Update: Ubuntu Linux 17.10 rolled out Firefox v 57
Yay, you can install an updated version with the following apt command/apt-get command:
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt upgrade
$ egrep -o firefox.* /var/log/apt/history.log
Restart your browser. Verify new version from the command line:
$ firefox –version
