{"id":44818,"date":"2023-12-04T14:10:24","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T14:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/?p=44818"},"modified":"2023-12-04T14:10:24","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T14:10:24","slug":"install-waterfox-tarball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/2023\/12\/install-waterfox-tarball\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Install Waterfox from official tarball in Ubuntu"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This simple tutorial shows how to install the Waterfox web browser from its official tarball & create app shortcut in Ubuntu Linux.<\/p>\n

Waterfox is a free open-source fork of Firefox, claims to be ethical and user-centric, emphasizing performance and privacy.<\/p>\n

The browser provides official Linux package through the portable tarball package, though a community maintained Flatpak package<\/a> is also available to run it in sandbox.<\/p>\n

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Step 1: Download Waterfox Tarball<\/h3>\n

To download the package, simply go to its website via the link button below and click the “Download” button:<\/p>\n

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Download Waterfox<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Once you got the package, just extract<\/b> it, and run the executable file<\/b> (waterfox<\/code> or waterfox-bin<\/code>) in the new generated folder, will launch the web browser.<\/p>\n

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Extract, and Launch Waterfox web browser<\/p><\/div>\n

Step 2: Create App Shortcut for Waterfox<\/h3>\n

If you want to make the app icon visible in the ‘Activities’ overview search result (or application\/start menu depends on your desktop environment<\/i>), then follow the steps below to create app shortcut for it.<\/p>\n

1. Move the source folder<\/b><\/p>\n

Before creating app shortcut, it’s better to move the ‘waterfox’ folder for long time use.<\/p>\n

For current user only<\/b>, you may put the folder to anywhere in your user home. I usually create a custom folder in user home (e.g., bin<\/b>, apps<\/b>) or put portable apps into .local<\/b> (it’s hidden, press Ctrl+H to view\/hide).<\/p>\n

In the screenshot below, I moved the waterfox folder into the custom “MyApps”\u00a0 folder:<\/p>\n

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For global<\/b>, it’s good choice to move the folder to “\/opt<\/code>“, so all users in the system can launch the web browser.<\/p>\n

In the case, right-click on blank area of the folder that contains “waterfox” sub-folder, and click “Open in Terminal”. In pop-up terminal, run command to move or copy it to opt:<\/p>\n

sudo cp -R waterfox \/opt<\/pre>\n
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2. Create App Shortcut<\/b><\/p>\n
In most Linux, the app shortcuts are handled by .desktop<\/code> files located in either \/usr\/share\/applications<\/code> or .local\/share\/applications<\/code>.<\/p>\n
First, search for and launch your system text editor from overview or application menu depends on your DE:<\/p>\n
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When it opens with an empty document, paste following lines:<\/p>\n
[Desktop Entry]\r\nVersion=1.0\r\nName=Waterfox Web Browser\r\nComment=Browse the World Wide Web\r\nGenericName=Web Browser\r\nKeywords=Internet;WWW;Browser;Web;Explorer\r\nExec=\/home\/ji\/MyApps<\/b>\/waterfox\/waterfox %u\r\nTerminal=false\r\nX-MultipleArgs=false\r\nType=Application\r\nIcon=\/home\/ji\/MyApps<\/b>\/waterfox\/browser\/chrome\/icons\/default\/default128.png\r\nCategories=GNOME;GTK;Network;WebBrowser;\r\nMimeType=text\/html;text\/xml;application\/xhtml+xml;application\/xml;application\/rss+xml;application\/rdf+xml;image\/gif;image\/jpeg;image\/png;x-scheme-handler\/http;x-scheme-handler\/https;x-scheme-handler\/ftp;x-scheme-handler\/chrome;video\/webm;application\/x-xpinstall;\r\nStartupNotify=true\r\nActions=new-window;new-private-window;\r\n\r\n[Desktop Action new-window]\r\nName=Open a New Window\r\nExec=\/home\/ji\/MyApps<\/b>\/waterfox\/waterfox -new-window\r\n\r\n[Desktop Action new-private-window]\r\nName=Open a New Private Window\r\nExec=\/home\/ji\/MyApps<\/b>\/waterfox\/waterfox -private-window<\/pre>\n
Depends on where you moved the ‘waterfox’ folder, change the value of “Exec<\/b>” and “Icon<\/b>” accordingly! Meaning replace \/home\/ji\/MyApps<\/b> to yours.<\/p>\n
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When done pasting file content and changing Exec\/Icon path, press Shift+Ctrl+S<\/b> to open the “Save as” dialog. Then, do:<\/p>\n