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I am a Xubuntu LTS user, considering using Debian Stable 64 bit in my next install.

When I switch to Debian, I want to go with Iceweasel, as it is packaged with the Debian package manager. I plan to use this Debian Mozilla Team wizard: http://mozilla.debian.net/.

It offers a choice of "Beta", "Aurora", "Release", and "ESR" versions of Iceweasel, but doesn't explain how those versions are different. What is the difference between these options?

fixer1234
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odm
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  • Hope you don't mind that I "sanitized" your question. Apparently, people were interpreting your explanation of your objective (how you want to use the information), as either a software recommendation request or an opinion request. It's neither, just an on-topic request for technical information. – fixer1234 Feb 07 '16 at 21:01
  • I like what you changed. :) This is my first attempt at using StackExchange and I am seeing your rendition of my initial question as being more appropriate. I hope you are correct in your assumption of why people are down-voting the question. I was somewhat taken back by it. Thank you. – odm Feb 07 '16 at 23:22

2 Answers2

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Update

As of March 10, 2016, Iceweasel has been discontinued, as reported here and elsewhere, and confirmed by the Debian Mozilla wizard. I'll leave this answer for historical information, only.

Standard Firefox and Firefox ESR 45 have been uploaded to Debian Unstable (as new source packages), and will follow the established testing route. Both will be available in all Debian distributions (Unstable, Testing, Stable, and Old Stable), via appropriate entries in the sources list.

People using Iceweasel from Debian unstable will be upgraded to Firefox ESR (a surprise, since the default Iceweasel version in both Unstable and Testing was recently based on standard Firefox, see edited original answer). Debian Stable will receive Firefox ESR after Iceweasel/Firefox ESR38 is deprecated, in about 3 months.

Original Answer

After posting my "recommended" answer, I realized that I didn't directly answer the question in case somebody else wanted that information. I'll do that here, starting with some context.

Edit: It appears that Debian revised its versioning of Iceweasel. I've incorporated changes below. The information reflects versions and code sources in February 2016.

Iceweasel Versions

Iceweasel is essentially a rebranded Firefox, although there are a few differences. It originated from a disagreement between Mozilla and Debian over use of the Firefox trademarks after Debian modifies and recompiles the Firefox source code. Other than the branding, the main difference is that Iceweasel does not include some of the third-party additions that Mozilla bundles with Firefox, such as Pocket.

There are now three versions of Iceweasel:

  • Iceweasel Beta is based on the beta release of Firefox. It is not intended for normal use by typical users. It is basically just to get a jump on testing. It lives in Debian Experimental (see below).

  • Aurora appears to no longer exist. It was based on the latest release of Firefox as a way to make that available when Iceweasel was based on Firefox ESR. It lived in Debian Experimental. However, Iceweasel based on the current standard Firefox is now available in the regular repositories.

  • Iceweasel (referred to as "Release" in the selection wizard), is now based on standard Firefox and is available in the Unstable and Testing repositories.

    It isn't yet clear whether it's released in both simultaneously or graduates from Unstable to Testing after a brief evaluation period. It reflects the current Firefox version but it isn't yet clear how much delay there is. At the time of this edit, we are a month into Firefox 44 and Iceweasel 44 is the version in both repositories.

  • Iceweasel ESR is based on Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release), a version that is on a much longer major release interval than standard Firefox (currently about once per year vs. 6-8 weeks for standard Firefox). It is the Debian Stable version of Iceweasel.

    As of February 2016, Iceweasel ESR is based on Firefox ESR version 38, which was the last ESR release. Version 38 was originally released in May 2015 but has been patched and received security updates as recently as January 2016. The next version of Iceweasel ESR will be version 45, associated with the next Firefox ESR, which is scheduled for release in March 2016.

Debian Distributions

Debian has five categories of "distributions" (in quotes because one isn't actually released), including three active releases.

  • Experimental contains packages and tools that are still being developed, and are still in the alpha testing stage. Experimental isn't a complete distribution. It is a staging/collaboration/experimental area for development, when it is known that a package has problems or may have problems.

  • Unstable is where active development of Debian occurs. This is where third-party software starts (or graduates from Experimental), when it hasn't been tested but doesn't carry an expectation of problems.

  • Testing contains packages that haven't been accepted into a "stable" release yet, but are in the queue for that. Users who want newer versions of software use this distribution, essentially contributing to the beta testing. Some other Debian family Linux distributions that want to offer newer versions of software (like Ubuntu and LMDE), are based on Debian Testing.

  • Stable is the latest officially released distribution of Debian.

  • Old Stable is the previous stable release

Availability of Iceweasel Versions in Debian Distributions

Although the different Iceweasel versions are associated with specific Debian distributions, they can be accessed in other Debian distributions in most cases. More-stable versions are usually available in the main repository for each Debian distribution. Less-stable versions of Iceweasel are usually available through backport repositories. "More-stable" and "less-stable" refer to the code source, it isn't meant to imply anything about quality.

The exceptions: Nobody uses Debian Unstable for the oldest, most stable software, so Iceweasel ESR is not available there. Similarly, nobody sticks with the Old Stable version of Debian if they want "experimental" software, so Iceweasel Beta is not available there.

As noted in the question, Debian has a wizard here for obtaining the Iceweasel version you want for the Debian distribution you're running (which, unfortunately, lacks any explanation of what the options mean; hence, this question and this answer). Note that the wizard does not appear to reflect the changes in versioning, so its results may be unpredictable.

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fixer1234
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  • Very thorough explanation. Includes an interesting comment/bit: "Iceweasel does not include some of the third-party additions that Mozilla bundles with Firefox, such as Pocket. Debian recompiles the sanitized and rebranded Firefox source code to create Iceweasel". Firefox is rapidly revamping itself to include products seen in competitor browsers, that I turn off, FF Pocket, Hello, WebRTC, Reader and more. I wonder how many of these services are in fact third-party entities that would be sanitized in Iceweasel. – odm Feb 07 '16 at 19:45
  • @odm: Debian is obsessive about the "free" aspect. Anything they include as part of their normal distribution must be unrestricted. That even includes drivers, although they make some needed proprietary drivers available in a separate "non-free" distribution (it's no cost, the "free" refers to open-source). I'm pretty sure I read that Hello is excluded. Anything that isn't open source will be excluded from Iceweasel. Some people view that as a benefit because it's one less unneeded bloat item, with unexplored potential security issues that could be exploited. – fixer1234 Feb 07 '16 at 20:55
  • False info about ESR. At the time of this writing, ESR is an older version, but the next release of Firefox will be ESR, at which point it will not be older than any other release. ESR is the "extended support release", which means it was made with the idea of being a bit less risky, and more questionable additions were likely pushed off for a later release. Since stability is a good thing that some will significantly value, "There is no good reason to use ESR" is patently false. – TOOGAM Feb 07 '16 at 23:30
  • @TOOGAM: Thanks for the feedback. I assume you're talking about the very last sentence in the answer? Granted, that sentence is written as opinion rather than an explanation and I can see where it didn't convey the intended meaning. The whole last portion of the answer is about addressing the OP's objectives, which have now been edited out of the question. Should I simply remove that section or is there value in providing some discussion on the relative merits of each version (with an improved discussion of IW ESR, and removing "opinion" wording from the other bullets)? (cont'd) – fixer1234 Feb 08 '16 at 02:40
  • If there's value in a discussion, what I actually meant is this: there's a tradeoff between diminishing returns chasing as-yet undiscovered problems (and considering the potential severity of the symptoms they might cause), vs. actual problems using the browser for current web content. I had a lot of problems with FF ESR not handling my web content because its technology wasn't current, which is what got me into this. So weighed against actual problems, there are two sources of risk with Iceweasel: problems in FF, itself, and problems introduced when turning FF into IW. (cont'd) – fixer1234 Feb 08 '16 at 02:41
  • FF is generally pretty stable & problem-free; converting it to IW doesn't introduce much risk. Any risk is not likely to be a system-damaging problem. So even Aurora is pretty safe to evaluate. Release is based on a more stable FF version, which further reduces risk. The added value of moving from Release to ESR is the opportunity to catch undiscovered problems, which in this case, is a very small chance of finding a serious problem with serious consequences. OTOH, the latest FF ESR is always based on older versions of FF, and it doesn't take long to fall many versions behind. (cont'd) – fixer1234 Feb 08 '16 at 02:42
  • So where I was going with the last sentence in the answer is that while there's a theoretical benefit to the testing required to graduate Release to IW ESR, that comes at the price of IW becoming more out of date, which in my experience, was an actual problem. Your thoughts? – fixer1234 Feb 08 '16 at 02:42
  • My thoughts: Some information, as it has been written, has been false by at least 3 different posts by you (either answers or comment), all on this page. An example: You just said "the latest FF ESR is always based on older versions of FF". But based on [this schedule](http://developers.slashdot.org/story/16/02/07/1638221/firefox-adopts-a-6-8-week-variable-release-schedule), on March 8, 2016, the ESR version will then be newer than all the prior releases. Your advice seems to be prone to scaring people away from ESR as "old", when ESR is (sometimes, temporarily) the latest, newest version. – TOOGAM Feb 08 '16 at 03:16
  • @TOOGAM: That wasn't my intention. I agree on the benefits of Firefox ESR in situations that warrant it. As far as it always being older, a new release of ESR isn't based on the same code as a simultaneous release of standard FF. It's built over a long time using older, proven code. In a simultaneous release, standard FF will contain some newer elements. But even if they were the same, the different release schedules mean that it falls another version behind every 6 wks. That's not really the problem, though. (cont'd) – fixer1234 Feb 08 '16 at 04:49
  • It isn't so much either version of FF from Mozilla, it's the already ancient versions available in the Debian Stable repository. They caused me actual problems. Obviously, I don't want these answers to contain anything false, or that could be interpreted incorrectly. Do I still need to work on the other answer? On this answer, should I delete the last section, or would there be any value in trying to improve the wording? It sounds like what I put in the previous set of comments didn't cut it for you, in which case I'm not sure how I could fix it. I appreciate your input. – fixer1234 Feb 08 '16 at 04:49
  • @TOOGAM: This may all have been overtaken by events. Just discovered that the Iceweasel versioning changed, so much of this is moot. I deleted that whole last section and did major edits on both answers. I removed all the discussion about the pros and cons of FF ESR. I think the problem is solved, but let me know if there are still any issues. Thanks again. – fixer1234 Feb 08 '16 at 07:50
  • @fixer1234 Well, our discussion is chasing a moving target. as I look at this now. I re-visited here: http://mozilla.debian.net/ and saw this: "WARNING: Iceweasel is gone." I found this, validity? "outside" explanation offered: http://blog.osapostle.com/2016/03/debian-mozilla-firefox-replaces-iceweasel/ So, as of Mar 19/16 (3 days ago) apparently, one can use the wizard to install the latest Firefox Release. If it is true that one can still get the Iceweasel ESR, I wonder if the statement on the above linked page is correct in stating, "Iceweasel is gone" or, am I missing something, again. – odm Mar 22 '16 at 19:07
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Update

This answer is now moot, as described in my second answer, since Iceweasel has been discontinued. I'll leave it just for historical information.

Original Answer

I completely understand your desire to confine everything to the Debian Stable repository. I migrated to Debian Stable from Ubuntu-based Mint because I encountered a lot of stuff that wasn't quite ready for prime-time. There's a problem, however, with the flip side. It takes forever for anything to get released into the Stable repository, so what's there tends to be very old.

With most software, the only problem with that is you miss some newer features. Browsers are a different story. Besides the ever-changing security threats, the associated "standards" for such things as displaying video and rendering web content are continuously evolving. If you get significantly behind the current version, you are likely to encounter problems with some web sites.

Iceweasel and Debian Stable

My own experience with what is offered in the Debian Stable repository is what led me to what I'm suggesting in this answer.

The Debian Stable repository currently offers both Iceweasel and Firefox ESR. Firefox ESR is designed to be a very stable product, with a long interval between major releases. The Firefox ESR offered in the Debian Stable repository appears to be an old remnant that has never been cleaned out; Debian has not offered brand-name Firefox for some time. It is Version 24.4 from March 2014 (the .4 is a security update, ESR 24 was released in September 2013). In another month (March 2016), Mozilla will be releasing Version 45 (as it happens, that also includes a new ESR version). A lot has changed on the web that gives version 24 indigestion.

The version of Iceweasel currently offered in the Stable repository is based on Firefox ESR Version 38. The initial release was in May 2015 (although there have been patches and security updates as recently as January 2016). At the time of my experience, Iceweasel was based on Firefox ESR 24.

Note that it is possible to install versions of Iceweasel based on newer versions of Firefox by accessing the repositories for other Debian releases. I posted another answer that goes into more detail on this aspect.

Both the Firefox ESR and Iceweasel available in the Stable repository caused problems for me with many web sites. At that time, both products were a little under a year past their original release dates. The problems disappeared when I loaded the current standard Firefox.

Mozilla has a rigorous quality program of their own, plus any problems you might experience with their browser would affect only the browser; it won't hose your OS. Given that, my recommendation is to install the current version of standard Firefox. I'll explain how to do that in a way that still allows you to manage the installation via the package manager.

Recommended Solution

Mint has a Debian-based version, and their repository always has the latest version of actual Firefox, in a form ready to install in Debian via the package manager. In this case, the value isn't in getting "bleeding-edge" features (there's a testing channel for people who want that, but the latest features in normal Firefox releases are stable). Rather, the benefit is that the performance in handling current web content will be more dependable.

The procedure is simply to add the LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition) repository to the list used by the package manager. You then install the latest Firefox through the package manager as you would anything else, and the package manager will alert you to updates, and install them for you if you want.

Instructions

Use the file manager to open /etc/apt/sources.list.

There is a provision there under Other Software to add a repository. In that box, paste:

deb http://packages.linuxmint.com debian import

and close the file. Then, from the terminal:

Get the public key (paste these lines):

sudo gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 3EE67F3D0FF405B2
sudo gpg --export 3EE67F3D0FF405B2 > 3EE67F3D0FF405B2.gpg
sudo apt-key add ./3EE67F3D0FF405B2.gpg
sudo rm ./3EE67F3D0FF405B2.gpg

Update:

sudo apt-get update

Now you can install Firefox in one of two ways. Either use another command:

apt-get install firefox

Or, use the software manager. Search on the term Firefox and the current version will be in the list.

Edit: My own problems were due to the offerings in the Debian Stable repository. At that time, I was unaware of Aurora (which appears to no longer exist), and the Testing repository offered a version of Iceweasel that was also based on an old version of Firefox ESR. The solution in this answer was the best option at the time, and somewhat the standard fix.

Having implemented it, my system automatically keeps current with the latest Firefox. There have been no problems in 18 months. I am happy with the solution and can continue to recommend it.

As described in my other answer, Debian has changed versioning of Iceweasel. A version based on the current standard Firefox is now offered in the Testing repository. Iceweasel will lack some of the third-party functions bundled with Firefox, but for people who don't use those features and would prefer not having the bloat, that could be a plus. So users of Debian Stable now have a choice of solutions.

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fixer1234
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  • "Iceweasel and Firefox ESR. Both of those tend to be very out of date". This is on a different release cycle, and so isn't "out of date" according to that intentional cycle, created by design. – TOOGAM Feb 07 '16 at 23:32
  • @TOOGAM: I intended a different meaning for "out-of-date". I'll try to improve the wording. Thanks. – fixer1234 Feb 08 '16 at 02:47
  • Illuminating. By following comments/edits and searching Debian pages on Iceweasel in Debian Releases is giving me an education of the process followed through different Debian versions. To Iceweasel. To the best of my understanding, "Release" = *based on regular Firefox releases. From Debian Stable one could enable from backports to include the newest Firefox version, which lives in Testing and Unstable at the moment. cont'd – odm Feb 08 '16 at 19:01
  • What is unclear to me is, what happened to the Firefox releases between the Debian Stable Iceweasel (38.xx) and Debian Unstable and Testing (44.xx)? Possibly, this is a reflection of the changes being made by the Debian Mozilla Maintainers. https://qa.debian.org/developer.php?email=pkg-mozilla-maintainers%40lists.alioth.debian.org – odm Feb 08 '16 at 19:01
  • @odm: Firefox ESR has a new major release roughly once per year, which they number to match the concurrent standard release. 38 was the last FF ESR release, which is the basis for Iceweasel ESR in Debian Stable. Standard FF is now the basis for IW in Testing and Unstable, and it has a new release every 6-8 weeks. So what has "happened" to Iceweasel ESR since 38 was released is that problems and security issues have been patched, but the feature set has remained the same. A new FF ESR is slated for release in March (V45), so that will be the basis for the next IW ESR in Stable. – fixer1234 Feb 08 '16 at 21:53
  • @fixer1234. Yes, of course. Actually, I did know that. I was getting confused. Thank you. – odm Feb 09 '16 at 05:00