3

I am amazed this never happened for so long but I noticed that Firefox is no longer being upgraded on my Ubuntu 14.04 LTS so I am stuck on version 36.

Apparently somehow linked to the flash player being outdated. A warning came up and I discovered the problem with Firefox.

Anyone knows how to update manually and why this happens?

UPDATE: 3 days later

Dear all,

thanks for your helpful answers! However, surprisingly, 1 hr after having posted my question and NOT HAVING CHANGED anything on the system yet the update came up automatically!

Completely weird, isn't it? Apparently nothing happens for at least 2 - 3 months and, then, just when starting to investigate on it the update comes more or less instantly.

Does this appear logic or normal to you? Or could that be a hint to malware or something comparable controlling my computer? Something known about such threats?

Thanks again to all of you!

1
  • Run sudo apt-get update, edit your question and add output of apt-cache policy firefox terminal command. And also output of cat /etc/lsb-release.
    – Pilot6
    Jul 24, 2015 at 10:11

3 Answers 3

2

You probably have a hold on the package. You can release it with

sudo apt-mark unhold firefox

Sorry to post as an answer instead of comment, but for some I only have enough rep for answers (seems backwards?)

2
  • This is an answer, not a comment. Comments are supposed to be remarks about the question: just because an answer is short doesn't mean it should be a comment. The reputation limit is to prevent new users from making the common mistake of putting short answers in the comments. Jul 24, 2015 at 16:38
  • ... which is why it "seems backwards", because such users tend to make the mistake of putting comments in answers, instead. Both are, of course, wrong, and the given justification of "I only have enough rep for answers" is not an excuse. Mleh. Jul 24, 2015 at 17:00
2

The latest version for Firefox in the Standard Ubuntu Repositories is 39.0+build5-0ubuntu0.14.04.1

Check, that you have enabled the trusty-security category. The screenshot is for Vivid, but that makes no difference.

enter image description here

After that

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

If there is no upgrade for your Firefox, check the hold status for firefox.

If you have an output like this

$ apt-mark showhold
firefox

remove the unhold attribute with

sudo apt-mark unhold firefox

You will see this message

Canceled hold on firefox.

Now start

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

again

-1

A temporary solution:

download the .deb file directly from here. just choose your architecture flavor and then you can install:

sudo dpkg -i firefox_39*.deb

You can use another repository

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-security/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install firefox

As added information you can install new version manually:

Download (now it's version 39)

Download the release from: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/channel/#firefox

Extract:

cd ~/Downloads
tar xvf firefox-39.0.tar.bz2

Move to /opt

sudo cp firefox39/ /opt

Make Links:

sudo cp /usr/bin/firefox /usr/bin/firefox_old

sudo ln -s /opt/firefox39/firefox /usr/bin/firefox

And that's. Enjoy

4
  • Why install it manually, if same version is in the repos? It will not be updated.
    – Pilot6
    Jul 24, 2015 at 10:34
  • OP asks for Anyone knows how to update manually and why this happens?
    – Maythux
    Jul 24, 2015 at 10:35
  • 1
    We need to find why this happens, and it will be fixed. If he updates your way, he will ask the same question after next version is released.
    – Pilot6
    Jul 24, 2015 at 10:36
  • @Pilot6 in this point you are right
    – Maythux
    Jul 24, 2015 at 10:36

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .