When you restart Firefox it will rebuild a new profile. If you want to completely wipe out and reinstall firefox, on the terminal do this: sudo apt-get purge firefox firefox-globalmenu firefox-gnome-support This will remove all traces of the Firefox system files. Then, to reinstall: sudo apt-get install firefox firefox-globalmenu firefox-gnome-support. Microsoft ships the operating system with Internet Explorer as well, and it is easy enough to use either one of the browsers to download Firefox, Chrome, Opera or any of the other browsers available for Windows. When Windows 10 came out, I was interested in Microsoft Edge for a number of reasons.
What is the most straight forward way to downgrade Firefox 57 to Firefox 56?
This is to have more time to wait for working replacements for legacy extensions.
Peter Mortensen1,02822 gold badges1111 silver badges1717 bronze badges
Jani SaarenpääJani Saarenpää
6 Answers
If you need supported Firefox ESR then you can add one of the PPAs. Two options here:
- Get Firefox ESR 60.x as snap:
- Get Firefox ESR 60.x from Mozilla Team's PPA
ppa:mozillateam/ppa
(the first versions were published here at 2017-10-11 as the result of discussion on the ubuntu-desktop maillist): - Get Firefox ESR 60.x from Jonathon F's PPA
ppa:jonathonf/firefox-esr
.
For your information:
- This new version does not support LEGACY ADDONS.
- The current status of porting LEGACY extensions to WebExtension are located in Google Spreadsheet. The percentage of WebExtensions is not too high.
Please note that ESR 52 version is not supported anymore. Proceed on your own risk.
You can get Firefox ESR 52.9.0 from Jonathon F's PPA
ppa:jonathonf/firefox-esr-52
with the following commands:With such version I can continue to use my add-ons such as SiteDelta, TableTools2, Show Parent Folder, Manage Folders, Wired Marker and others.
Notes: if you have already added
ppa:jonathonf/firefox-esr
PPA before and do not want Firefox to be upgraded to version 60, then you can pin this version with the following command (16.04 LTS as an example):If you have added any of PPAs (
ppa:mozillateam/ppa
or ppa:jonathonf/firefox-esr
) and Firefox was upgraded from 52 to 60 then remove any PPA with version 60 and enable special one (ppa:jonathonf/firefox-esr-52
) with the commands below:but please note that you will not get security updates as this version is obsolete.
N0rbertN0rbert28.6k99 gold badges6464 silver badges137137 bronze badges
Disclaimer:
It is not recommended to keep packages on hold unless your goal is to have a stable production environment where the tools you use should not undergo changes while you work with them.
For doing this you can simply do the following:
- For Ubuntu 17.10:Note: this works in artful all the time because artful got released with firefox being version 56.
- For Ubuntu 16.04Note: this will only work on 16.04 if you did not clean out the cache of youre archives with
sudo apt clean
orsudo apt autoclean
. If you already cleaned your local archives you can only revert to45.0.2+build1-0ubuntu1
which was the one xenial got released with, alternatively you can refer to @Michael Johnson's answer below which will work fine in this case. - For all other Ubuntu versions:Note: Here as well it will only work if you not cleaned your local archives yet:request the
apt policy
information which will return you something like this:We are after the line which tells you the package name for version 56, which would be in this example56.0+build6-0ubuntu1
. this you simply put into the following lines: - If all options above fail you can download older firefox versions on their website for all versions and set them up in your home directory. See How do I install a tar.gz or tar.bz2 file on how to do this. This would leave you with firefox 56 as a second option on your system while you wait for your favorite add-ons to be updated.
- Since I'm not want to plagiatize @Michael Johnson's answer you should refer to his answer for another fine option on how to revert back.
Whenever you feel you want to update this package again to 57 or whatever version is current then, you can simply do (see (2)):
When you start the downgraded firefox for the first time you might get a warning that some extensions (language) which are available in firefox 57 are not compatible with version 56. After one time checking those for updated versions, which will find none, firefox will start normally.
Footnotes:
(1) The first will install the last version of firefox 56, even if you have 57 already installed and the second command will block this package from updating (see (2)).
(2) Normally holding/unholding
VideonauthVideonauthfirefox
alone suffices for what you want to achieve, but if in doubt holding/unholding 'firefox*'
will hold/unhold all additional packages beginning with firefox too.26k1212 gold badges8181 silver badges106106 bronze badges
The other answers do not currently work without reading the comments, so I think it is useful to post a more direct answer, since the OP asked for 'the most straightforward way'.
If you are still using Ubuntu 14.04 64 bits, just run these commands:
If you are using Ubuntu 16.04 64 bits just run these commands:
If you are running instead Ubuntu 17.10 (32 or 64 bits), run these commands instead:
If you are running some other version of Ubuntu, you'll have to hunt down the .deb here and install with
dpkg
as above.Mateus AraújoMateus Araújo
You don't have to downgrade to 56 to use legacy extensions.
You can install the 'Firefox Nightly' version which allows you to enable legacy extensions on 57+. Currently, I am using version 59* and legacy extensions work just fine for me so far.
First, install the ubuntu-mozilla-daily ppa by running the following commands:
Next, run the following command install Firefox Nightly:
Additionally, if you want to use your current Firefox profile, run the following command to copy your existing Firefox profile to the Nightly build:
Finally:
- open Firefox Nightly and go to
about:config
- search for
extensions.legacy.enabled
- double-click
extensions.legacy.enabled
to toggle the value totrue
- search for
extensions.allow-non-mpc-extensions
- double-click
extensions.allow-non-mpc-extensions
to toggle the value totrue
Note: most of my non-multi-process-capable extensions do not work.
mchidmchid24.2k22 gold badges5656 silver badges8989 bronze badges
You can download the Firefox packages for Ubuntu from http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/f/firefox/. At the end of the list you'll find the the Firefox packages, ignore the other ones (e.g.
firefox-dbg
, firefox-locale
, etc.). From the ones at the end of the list, make sure to select the correct Ubuntu version and CPU architecture.For Ubuntu 14.04:
For Ubuntu 16.04:
For Ubuntu 17.04:
For Ubuntu 17.10 there is no Firefox 56 package so try the 17.04 packages. For other versions try the closest newer package, or the closest older package if that one fails.
Once you've downloaded the correct package, you'll have a
.deb
file. Install this with sudo dpkg --install
. So for example if you downloaded the 17.04 64-bit package, the command would be sudo dpkg --install firefox_56.0+build6-0ubuntu0.17.04.2_amd64.deb
. Replace the filename in the command with the one matching the package that you downloaded.You'll probably see some errors after running the
dpkg
command. This is normal. Run sudo apt-get -f install
to fix the errors by installing/updating the required dependencies.You may need to run
sudo apt-mark hold firefox
before running sudo apt-get -f install
, personally I've never needed to do this but the other answers imply that this is necessary. Probably no harm done by using this command, and it will prevent Firefox from being updated automatically (use sudo apt-mark unhold firefox
to allow Firefox to be updated again).EDIT: These packages seem to have been removed. An updated version is available, using the same package for all supported Ubuntu versions:
Micheal JohnsonMicheal Johnson
An upstream Firefox release, or even multiple such releases, can be installed alongside the ubuntu-maintained version, as suggested in answers to this question on Unix and Linux SE.
You could then use these old versions just when you want to use the apps that need them, and disable the autoupdate in their settings.
This is the best way to deal with legacy web apps in times where browser-makers think of 10 year product lifetimes or backwards-compatibility as four letter words.
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rackandbonemanrackandboneman
protected by Community♦Nov 22 '17 at 10:34
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If you want to use Classic Theme Restorer (and other legacy add-ons) up to summer 2018, I suggest to switch to Firefox ESR channel. Firefox 52 ESR gets all security updates default Firefox gets without changing base code and without new add-on breaking changes. From 2018-06-26 on there won't be any official up-to-date Firefox, that runs legacy add-ons anymore.
Moving to Firefox 52 ESR after installing Firefox 55/56 might break your browser profile. It is recommended to move to Firefox 52 ESR before Firefox 55 release (2017-08-08).
Waterfox and Basilisk browsers (based on Firefox code) will keep legacy add-on support.
Release schedule update: Fx 60 will become ESR instead of 59.
Difference between Extended Support Release channel and default channel:
Fx 52.0 ESR = Firefox 52 (first major code changes since Firefox 45.0 ESR)
Fx 52.1 ESR = Firefox 53 (without major code changes since Fx 52, but with security updates from Fx 53)
Fx 52.2 ESR = Firefox 54 (without major code changes since Fx 52, but with security updates from Fx 54)
...
Fx 52.7 ESR = Firefox 59 (without major code changes since Fx 52, but with security updates from Fx 59)
Fx 52.8 ESR = Firefox 60 (without major code changes since Fx 52, but with security updates from Fx 60)
Fx 52.9 ESR = Firefox 61 (without major code changes since Fx 52, but with security updates from Fx 61)
Fx 60.0 ESR = Firefox 60 (first major code changes since Firefox 52.0 ESR)
Fx 60.1 ESR = Firefox 61 (without major code changes since Fx 60, but with security updates from Fx 61)
...
Fx 52.0 ESR = Firefox 52 (first major code changes since Firefox 45.0 ESR)
Fx 52.1 ESR = Firefox 53 (without major code changes since Fx 52, but with security updates from Fx 53)
Fx 52.2 ESR = Firefox 54 (without major code changes since Fx 52, but with security updates from Fx 54)
...
Fx 52.7 ESR = Firefox 59 (without major code changes since Fx 52, but with security updates from Fx 59)
Fx 52.8 ESR = Firefox 60 (without major code changes since Fx 52, but with security updates from Fx 60)
Fx 52.9 ESR = Firefox 61 (without major code changes since Fx 52, but with security updates from Fx 61)
Fx 60.0 ESR = Firefox 60 (first major code changes since Firefox 52.0 ESR)
Fx 60.1 ESR = Firefox 61 (without major code changes since Fx 60, but with security updates from Fx 61)
...
Release dates:
[2018-01-23] Firefox 58 / ESR 52.6
[2018-03-13] Firefox 59 / ESR 52.7
[2018-05-08] Firefox 60 / ESR 52.8 / ESR 60
[2018-07-03] Firefox 61 / ESR 52.9 / ESR 60.1
[2018-08-28] Firefox 62 / ESR 60.2 -> end of life for legacy add-ons
[2018-01-23] Firefox 58 / ESR 52.6
[2018-03-13] Firefox 59 / ESR 52.7
[2018-05-08] Firefox 60 / ESR 52.8 / ESR 60
[2018-07-03] Firefox 61 / ESR 52.9 / ESR 60.1
[2018-08-28] Firefox 62 / ESR 60.2 -> end of life for legacy add-ons
Note:
If you are on Firefox ESR 52.7, you should get an offer to upgrade to Firefox ESR 60.0 on 2018-05-08. If you decline that offer, Firefox will just update to Firefox ESR 52.8.
This will be repeated for one more cycle (Firefox ESR 52.9). From 2018-08-28Firefox ESR 60.2 will be the only up-to-date and 'secure' ESR version of Firefox and ESR 52.x will be deprecated.
If you are on Firefox ESR 52.7, you should get an offer to upgrade to Firefox ESR 60.0 on 2018-05-08. If you decline that offer, Firefox will just update to Firefox ESR 52.8.
This will be repeated for one more cycle (Firefox ESR 52.9). From 2018-08-28Firefox ESR 60.2 will be the only up-to-date and 'secure' ESR version of Firefox and ESR 52.x will be deprecated.
Note:
Hello,
You are receiving this email because you are listed as a developer of a legacy add-on on addons.mozilla.org (AMO).
Mozilla will stop supporting Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) 52, the final release that is compatible with legacy add-ons, on September 5, 2018.
As no supported versions of Firefox will be compatible with legacy add-ons after this date, we will start the process of disabling legacy add-on versions on addons.mozilla.org. On September 6, 2018, submissions for new legacy add-on versions will be disabled. All legacy add-on versions will be disabled by early October 2018. Once this happens, users will no longer be able to find your legacy versions on AMO.
After legacy add-ons are disabled, you will still be able to port your extension to the WebExtensions APIs. Once your new version is submitted to AMO, users who have previously installed your extension will automatically receive the update and your listing will appear in the gallery.
You can find more information about porting legacy extensions to the WebExtensions API on MDN[3], and we encourage you to visit our wiki[4] for more information about upcoming development work and how to get in touch with our team if you need any help.
Regards,
The Add-ons Team
CTR and other legacy add-ons will stop working on Firefox 57 when WebExtension will replace legacy add-ons and XUL/XPCOM support will be removed for add-ons completely. CTR (and all of my other Firefox add-ons on AMO) can not survive this change.
Even if it will be possible to port some of CTRs currently over 400 tweaks/options/features to WebExtensions one day (currently none of them would work in a XUL free environment), I have no plans to do that. The outcome would not be CTR anymore.
At the moment more and more Firefox 57 features land on Firefox Nightly. As a result some CTR features stopped working on Firefox 55/56 Nightly. They work on Firefox 55 beta and also might work on Firefox 56 beta and on Firefox 55/56 release builds.
CTR had to drop support so far for:
- custom general bookmark icons in Firefox 55
- old search in Firefox 56 Nightly (it might return for Firefox 56 beta and release)
WebExtensions may be the future for web content add-ons (according to Mozilla), but losing powerful ui customization ability on user level is definitively the biggest step back Firefox ever made. It loses the only advantage it has over ALL other browsers.
Additional explanation to this statement: On some comments areas on various websites protectionists of WebExtensions claim by quoting the previous sentences I have not understood how future development of applications works, blabbing applications have to drop 'old ballast' in order to reinvent themselves and offer new technologies and other nonsense. Those ignorant protectionists (like Hauro) fail to understand, that CTR was and still is fully compatible to all so-called modern technologies added through time to Firefox like multi-process architecture, 64Bit architecture etc...
The only reason why CTR does not work in Firefox 57+ is Mozillas decision to take away add-ons almighty power over the browser, not because add-on features are incompatible to modern techniques or Firefox 57+ in general. A simple CSS loader would allow over 80% of CTRs features to be available for Firefox 57+. This is proven by all userChrome.css/userContent.css tweaks available here.
This also applies to my other add-ons like Classic Toolbar Buttons, NoiaButtons and GlassMyFox. NoiaButtons for example could be fully ported to userChrome.css and is working in Firefox 57+ just fine.
The only reason why CTR does not work in Firefox 57+ is Mozillas decision to take away add-ons almighty power over the browser, not because add-on features are incompatible to modern techniques or Firefox 57+ in general. A simple CSS loader would allow over 80% of CTRs features to be available for Firefox 57+. This is proven by all userChrome.css/userContent.css tweaks available here.
This also applies to my other add-ons like Classic Toolbar Buttons, NoiaButtons and GlassMyFox. NoiaButtons for example could be fully ported to userChrome.css and is working in Firefox 57+ just fine.
For now I will only try to keep my add-ons 'alive' till the end of Fx 52 ESR, if I'm still allowed to upload updated legacy add-ons to AMO.
CTR and other add-ons should still work on Firefox 52 ESR until Firefox 59 ESR replaces it in 2018 (~Q2). Waterfox should also support legacy add-ons indefinitely.
Are we WebExtensions yet?http://arewewebextensionsyet.com
APIs > Legend > complete
APIs > Legend > complete
pretty much all the APIs that it makes sense to implement have been done. What remains is undocumented, deprecated or we've thought not worth bothering with (we could be wrong).
In case you are wondering why some add-ons have to go: according to Mozilla and Firefox devs they [add-ons, APIs] are not worth bothering with.
Add-ons in 2017
https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2016/11/23/add-ons-in-2017/
https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2016/11/23/add-ons-in-2017/
Classic Theme Restorer may be dead by the end of 2017
http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/26/classic-theme-restorer-may-be-dead-by-the-end-of-2017/
http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/26/classic-theme-restorer-may-be-dead-by-the-end-of-2017/
Old Firefox Extensions Will Stop Working in Firefox 57
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3025513
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3025513
The Dev-addons Archives
https://mail.mozilla.org/pipermail/dev-addons/
https://mail.mozilla.org/pipermail/dev-addons/
Bug 1328244 - [WebExtensions] Firefox customization API request - WONTFIXed by Mozilla
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1328244
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1328244
The Road to Firefox 57 – Compatibility Milestones
https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2017/04/05/compatibility-firefox-54/#comment-223852
https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2017/04/05/compatibility-firefox-54/#comment-223852
Quick summary of what’s already been discussed on that post and the comments:
- Starting with 57, many things will break that will also break add-ons. Most add-ons that aren’t WebExtensions will be broken regardless. Aligning with ESR is not a goal.
- WebExtensions will never do everything XPCOM does, so feature parity is not a goal. Some top add-ons can’t be completely ported (DownThemAll and Firebug come to mind) and we’re accepting that risk.
Keep in mind: Mozilla decided to end current powerful browser customization not the add-on developers! It is still unknown what will be possible with upcoming APIs in the future.
Firefox 57+ tweaks
As long as userChrome.css is supported, we can get rid of Photon UI by modifying existing stuff. We can not add anything new to the UI though.
Promo of what I have tested so far (on Win7 with AeroBlue colors, possible on other OSs too)
More here: #365