Install Firefox Quantum On Debian 9 Stretch Without Using Third Party Repository

Mozilla recently released their all new revamped version of their web browser named Firefox Quantum. Although they released the browser on all supported platforms including Linux, it is not available and never will be on the official repository of Debian 9 Stretch because of their release scheme. Only the ESR (Extended Release Support) version of Firefox is available on official repository on Debian 9 Stretch. However, it is available on Debian Sid repository which will be unofficial for Debian Stretch. But as the title of our article suggests we won't be using any third party repo to install Firefox or wont upgrade to Debian Sid.




We will download the latest Firefox Quantum package form Mozilla's ftp and install it manually on our Debian box. Go through the remaining article to get your latest Firefox Quantum.

Follow the below steps.
1. Download Firefox
2. Install Firefox
3. Create Firefox Launcher On Desktop

1. Download Firefox

As i have already stated we will be download Firefox package form Mozilla's site and we will use wget to download the Firefox package.
First of all open a terminal and change your current directory to desktop by typing 'Desktop' without quote on terminal.Now download the package,

For 32-bit Debian,

sudo wget -O FirefoxSetup.tar.bz2 "https://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-latest&os=linux&lang=en-US"

For 64-bit Debian,

sudo wget -O FirefoxSetup.tar.bz2 "https://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-latest&os=linux64&lang=en-US"

The above command will download the latest stable version of Firefox, now your Firefox package will be download to your desktop with name FirefoxSetup.tar.bz2

2.Install Firefox

By now, you should have known that this is not a standard Debian package, so we will have to unpack and install it manually. This way Firefox will be installed with automatic updates.
Run the below commands (i am assuming the package is on your desktop with name FirefoxSetup.tar.bz2)
First open terminal as root and change the current directory to Desktop
Now unpack it,

sudo tar xjf FirefoxSetup.tar.bz2

Now move the unpacked folder to install location

sudo mv firefox /opt/firefox

Again, enter the following to create system-wide symbolic link

sudo ln -s /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/bin/firefox

After this you should be able to run Firefox by entering 'firefox' on terminal.

3. Create Launcher For Firefox On Desktop

As the named suggests, launcher is a icon to launch specific app. To do this right click on your desktop and click create launcher.
Select Type as Application
Name as Firefox Quantum or whatever you like
Command as firefox
and save it.

Now you can run firefox through that launcher too. You can even set the launcher icon to firefox from its properties.

Screenshots (Click to zoom)
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And that's the end. Faced any issues?? I would love to help you, comment below.