firefoxppa
I would like to get an auto-updating version of Firefox Developer Edition rather than a once-off installation. From comments on the announcement and this Mozilla ticket it appears that Firefox Developer Edition is a rebranding of Aurora (a stable pre-release channel).
In that case, can I just install the Firefox Aurora PPA which is maintained by the Ubuntu Mozilla Daily Build Team?
The Firefox Developer Edition is a modified version of Firefox, specifically designed for web developers. It uses a separate profile than the regular version of Firefox. Meaning you can have both Firefox or F-beta, installed next to the developer edition. Note that your F.D.E. will be a completely UN-customized browser. To unify settings, you can use Firefox sync.
Here's one of many perks when using F.D.E:
"By using the Developer Edition, you gain access to tools and platform features at least 12 weeks before they reach the main Firefox release channel." - Developer Edition - Mozilla | MDN#The_latest_Firefox_features
There are currently three ways to do this, manually, PPA or via Ubuntu Make.
Download from Mozilla Firefox Developer Edition webpage. Extract it with file-roller and move the folder to its final location. A good practice is to install it in /opt/ or /usr/local/.
Once you moved the files to their final location (say /opt/firefox_dev/), you can create the following file ~/.local/share/applications/firefox_dev.desktop to get a launcher with an icon distinct from normal Firefox.
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Firefox Developer
GenericName=Firefox Developer Edition
Exec=/opt/firefox_dev/firefox %u
Terminal=false
Icon=/opt/firefox_dev/browser/chrome/icons/default/default128.png
Type=Application
Categories=Application;Network;X-Developer;
Comment=Firefox Developer Edition Web Browser.
StartupWMClass=Firefox Developer Edition
Please note, that the parameter StartupWMClass is added to prevent duplicate icons in the launcher, as explained here.
To mark the launcher as trusted, make it executable:
chmod +x ~/.local/share/applications/firefox_dev.desktop
To launch it, navigate to ~/.local/share/applications/ using your "Files" application (ensure you turn on hidden folders), then double-click firefox_dev.desktop. Alternatively, search for Firefox Developer, and simply run the firefox binary, and voilà.
Note that, when you install manually, the F.D.E. does not have the unity global menu by default.
Firefox for developers currently resides in Firefox Aurora builds : “Ubuntu Mozilla Daily Build Team” team. It should be noted that:
"Firefox Developer Edition replaces the Aurora channel in the Firefox Release Process. Like Aurora, features will land in the Developer Edition every six weeks, after they have stabilized in Nightly builds." - Developer Edition - Mozilla | MDN #The_latest_Firefox_features
Also:
"Version 35.0a2, first offered to Firefox Developer Edition users on November 10, 2014" - Firefox — Aurora Notes (35.0a2) — Mozilla#main-content
Install the Firefox Developer Edition, formerly know as Aurora, like so:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily/firefox-aurora
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install firefox
The Mozilla PPA only holds packages for the supported Ubuntu releases, not EOL(End Of Life) releases.
Note that installing with the aforementioned ppa, will result in your current Firefox installation being replaced!
This method has been provided by Jorge Castro. I am adding this here, because it's also an excellent way to install the Firefox Developer Edition(and many others dev tools).
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:lyzardking/ubuntu-make
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-make
After you have installed ubuntu-make, tell it to install the web tool firefox-dev.
umake web firefox-dev
If you wish to keep the Current default Firefox, because The FDE has no new features you like, or for whatever reason, here are a few ways to uninstall it.
You can remove the ppa, and its packages, using ppa-purge.
Install it like so:
sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
The following will remove the PPA, and its packages:
sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily/firefox-aurora
remove the binaries with the rm command(rename the path to the location you actually extracted FDE). Or with your file-manager:
sudo rm -r /opt/firefox_dev/
Also remove the firefox_dev.desktop
sudo rm ~/.local/share/applications/firefox_dev.desktop
After that you have successfully removed the Firefox Developer Edition.
the following command will remove Firefox Developer Edition:
umake web firefox-dev -r
You can also remove umake and its PPA (ppa-purge needed, see installation instructions above):
sudo ppa-purge ppa:lyzardking/ubuntu-make
Firefox Developer Edition on Ubuntu 14.04.1
At the time of writing, there are three themes available for F.D.E. Here is how to enable them.
Type in the url bar:
about:config
When in the search filter type in theme. Then double click on devtools.theme. After that, type in light, and the theme will be applied.
Screenshot with multiple themes available for F.D.E.
Some - but not all - features touted by Mozilla:
WebIDE:
allows you to develop, deploy and debug Web apps directly in your browser, or on a Firefox OS device. It lets you create a new Firefox OS app (which is just a web app) from a template, or open up the code of an existing app. From there you can edit the app’s files. It’s one click to run the app in a simulator and one more to debug it with the developer tools.
Valence:
(previously called Firefox Tools Adapter) lets you develop and debug your app across multiple browsers and devices by connecting the Firefox dev tools to other major browser engines. Valence also extends the awesome tools we’ve built to debug Firefox OS and Firefox for Android to the other major mobile browsers including Chrome on Android and Safari on iOS. So far these tools include our Inspector, Debugger and Console and Style Editor.
Responsive Design Mode:
Page Inspector:
Web Console:
JavaScript Debugger:
Network Monitor:
Style Editor:
Web Audio Editor:
Reference:
Firefox — Aurora Notes (35.0a2) — Mozilla(Firefox Developer Edition Notes)
Firefox Aurora builds : “Ubuntu Mozilla Daily Build Team” team
Best Answer
The OMG! Ubuntu! post covering the announcement notes that the version released is Aurora 35.0a2 which matches the version in the PPA, so it looks like this is the way to do it :)
Note that this method will replace your current Firefox installation. If you want to run "regular" Firefox and Developer Edition side-by-side you will have to install DE separately. I don't know of a PPA for this. (Unless you have a specific requirement to run them side-by-side, this shouldn't be necessary.)