DEV Community: Bradley D. Thornton

HowTo: Let's install lots of browsers on Linux!

Bradley D. Thornton — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 18:33:28 +0000

Here we're going to cover the installation steps of Browsers in Linux - specifically, Debian GNU/Linux.

We're covering the procedural steps for this in Debian Testing (Forkey), which is already beginning the gleanings of what will become Debian 14. At the time of writing,the current kernel version is 7.1.3+deb14-amd64.

Daily drivers will likely be along the lines of Vivaldi, Firefox, Lagrange, and Brave Browser, and in no particular order. Any others will be mostly for particular reasons like, testing, curiosity, Etc., but some specialized products like the Tor browser, which focus on privacy are also covered. This list is by no means complete, but there's a bunch of them we cover, so let's jump right in!

I can haz #Cheezburgerz? 🍔 🍟

Well, let's see... First up is the first rate and fully featured Vivaldi, built on top of the open source Chromium, as are so many others in this list.

Vivaldi

Manual setup of the Vivaldi Linux repos - According to their website, "you no longer need to do this. After downloading a Linux package and installing it our Linux update repositories will be configured automatically for you to receive updates."

That's awfully nice, so visit the download page above and get the .deb package:

~# mkdir -pv /usr/local/packages/vivaldi; cd /usr/local/packages/vivaldi
~# wget https://downloads.vivaldi.com/stable/vivaldi-stable_8.1.4087.48-1_amd64.deb
~# apt install ./vivaldi*.deb

That's it! You're ready to go now.

Next up...

Firefox

~# apt update && apt install firefox-esr

There's none of this messing about anymore with softforks and trying to remember their names...'IceCat?', 'IceWeasel?'. The Trademark issues over branding have been resolved (and that's a good thing).

The one thing you might want to look into is SeaMonkey, which combines the Browser with an email client (like Thunderbird), an RSS Reader, IRC client, and a few other goodies.

Brave Browser

~# apt install curl
~# curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg
~# curl -fsSLo /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.sources https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/brave-browser.sources
~# apt update && apt install brave-browser

DuckDuckGo (on Android - There's no Linux port)
Edge (For the sake of completeness in testing? For the love of God, WHY???)

~# mkdir -pv /usr/local/packages/edge; cd /usr/local/packages/edge # download Edge from the link above into this directory
~# apt install -y ./microsoft-edge-stable_147.0.3912.98-1_amd64.deb # or whatever version you downloaded.

Lagrange

~# apt update && apt install flatpak
~$ flatpak install flathub fi.skyjake.Lagrange

Chromium

~# apt update && apt install chromium

Opera

~# mkdir -pv /usr/local/packages/opera; cd /usr/local/packages/opera # Download from the link above, for example:
~# wget https://download3.operacdn.com/ftp/pub/opera/desktop/131.0.5877.5/linux/opera-stable_131.0.5877.5_amd64.deb
~# apt install -y ./opera-stable_131.0.5877.5_amd64.deb

Good Ole Lynx, Elinks, and Links. One should not be without at least a couple of these. you can surf HTTP, Gopher, and remain in a character based environment with Lynx, so the utility of testing is available quickly at your fingertips. Also included w3m.

~# apt install -y elinks elinks-data elinks-doc links links2 lynx lynx-common w3m w3m-img

Nyxt: For a more elegant take on the mostly character/CLI based options above you might wish to have this browser in your toolchest. Installing is simple as a FlatPak.

~$ flatpak install flathub engineer.atlas.Nyxt

GNOME Web - aka: Epiphany. Yes, this is the decendent of Galeon, the legacy of which began in 2000. Much of Galeons features were ported to Epiphany, which for whatever reason, is having an existential moment with respect to its name - Officially? It's now GNOME Web, but everywhere it says that, they also include the Epiphany name just so there's no confusion. Huh?

~# apt install epiphany-browser epiphany-browser-data

If you must call it "Web", that's fine, but even if you want to install it as a FlatPak you're going to be invoking Ephiphany, and that's what everyone still calls it anyway:

~$ flatpak install flathub org.gnome.Epiphany

Falkon. Formerly QupZilla, this browser received its new name in 2017 when it was picked up by KDE. With a simple, but modern, themable interface affording the user options resembling that of Firefox, Chrome, Windows, and Mac, it also comes bundled with AdBlock installed and enabled. There are several other features and extensions available including a PDF reader, GreaseMonkey,Tab extensions, Etc., which are available via the KDE store rather than Chrome or Firefox add-on marketplace.

~# apt install falkon

You can also install via Flathub:

~$ flatpak install flathub org.kde.falkon

Konqueror - The longtime File and Web Browser by KDE. It's probably already installed by default if you're running KDE, but if not here you go:

~# apt install konqueror konqueror-data konqueror-doc libkf6konq7 libkf6konqsettings7

And now for something truly special...

Chawan

~# mkdir -pv /usr/local/packages/chawan; cd /usr/local/packages/chawan
~# wget https://git.sr.ht/~bptato/chawan/refs/download/v0.3.3/chawan-0-3-3-amd64.deb
~# apt update && apt install ./chawan-0-3-3-amd64.deb

Alternatively:

~# mkdir -pv /usr/local/src/chawan; cd /usr/local/src/chawan
/usr/local/src/chawan# wget https://git.sr.ht/~bptato/chawan/refs/download/v0.3.3/chawan-0-3-3-linux-amd64.tar.xz
/usr/local/src/chawan# tar xvf chawan-0-3-3-linux-amd64.tar.xz
/usr/local/src/chawan# cd chawan-0-3-3-linux-amd64/
/usr/local/src/chawan/chawan-0-3-3-linux-amd64# make install

you can start with ~$ mancha cha

DESCRIPTION
Chawan is a text-mode browser. It can be used as a pager, or as a
web/(S)FTP/gopher/gemini/file browser. It understands HTML and CSS, and
when enabled by the user, can also execute JavaScript and display images
(on terminals supporting Sixel or the Kitty image protocol.)

   Chawan can also be used as a general text-based document viewer  as  de‐
   scribed  in  cha-mailcap(5),  or  as a hyperlinked man page viewer using
   mancha(1).

TorBrowser

This one's a bit more of a chunk to bite into, only because if you're going to endeavor for such security, then you want to make sure to cross all the t's and dot all of the i's.

Import the Tor Browser Developers signing key

(0xEF6E286DDA85EA2A4BA7DE684E2C6E8793298290)

gpg --auto-key-locate nodefault,wkd --locate-keys torbrowser@torproject.org

Your output should look something like:

gpg: key 4E2C6E8793298290: public key "Tor Browser Developers (signing key) <torbrowser@torproject.org>" imported
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg:               imported: 1
      EF6E286DDA85EA2A4BA7DE684E2C6E8793298290
uid           [ unknown] Tor Browser Developers (signing key) <torbrowser@torproject.org>

Now that you've imported the key, you can save it to a file, identifying it by the fingerprint above:

~$ mkdir -pv ~/packages/tor; cd ~/packages/tor
~/packages/tor$ gpg --output ./tor.keyring --export 0xEF6E286DDA85EA2A4BA7DE684E2C6E8793298290

From the Tor Project's download page HERE, download the .asc OpenPGP signature file and the TorBrowser package tarball:

~/packages/tor$ wget https://www.torproject.org/dist/torbrowser/15.0.11/tor-browser-linux-x86_64-15.0.11.tar.xz.asc

~/packages/tor$ wget https://www.torproject.org/dist/torbrowser/15.0.11/tor-browser-linux-x86_64-15.0.11.tar.xz

NOTE: At the time of writing, these were the current files downloaded, the filenames will almost certainly have changed by the time you download them, so the tarball and signature file will have different names - adjust accordingly. We'll continue using those filenames below.

Now we verify the veracity of the package's tarball using the .asc signature file like so:

~/packages/tor$ gpgv --keyring ./tor.keyring ~/packages/tor/tor-browser-linux-x86_64-15.0.11.tar.xz.asc ~/packages/tor/tor-browser-linux-x86_64-15.0.11.tar.xz

Your output should confirm a "Good signature":

gpgv: Signature made Tue 28 Apr 2026 02:01:23 AM PDT
gpgv:                using RSA key CAAE408AEBE2288E96FC5D5E157432CF78A65729
gpgv: Good signature from "Tor Browser Developers (signing key) <torbrowser@torproject.org>"

Now we explode the archive:

~/packages/tor$ tar xvf tor-browser-linux-x86_64-15.0.11.tar.xz

Let's give it a go, shall we?

~/packages/tor$ cd tor-browser
~/packages/tor/tor-browser$ ./start-tor-browser.desktop --register-app
Tor Browser has been registered as a desktop app for this user in ~/.local/share/applications/

You'll notice that the permissions of ./start-tor-browser.desktop are set to 700 - It has only been installed for you and you alone. I would recommend that everyone install their own but if that seemed like too much hassle for you to begin with, we can just install it system-wide for everyone, with the following two commands:

~# apt update
~# apt install -y torbrowser-launcher

Summary, and why

I know I know, I always seem to put the tl;dr's at the very end, but that's only because it humors me :p In this case, however, it really is best if the Tor Browser is installed individually for each and every user account that is going to use it.

Why do I usually put the tl;dr's at the very end of my articles? Because I've observed that the impatient among us are inclined to break something anyway for lack of patience and understanding, and if you really think about it, we've learned a lot today, going over each step and most of the time, why we did it that way.

Even so, when you get to the end there's this nice fluffy and quick way to accomplish your task quickly, and you can do it a hundred times now because you understand the whole thing. On the other hand, the people who just want the tl;dr are typically one of two types of folks - they've got a great handle on things and only need just bare syntax, or.... they're the kind of folks who, when assigned a book to read, start by reading the last couple of pages, then think they're ready for the book report.

For that last group of people, isn't putting the tl;dr at the very end where they really expect to find it anyway?

Parting Thoughts

Not all of the products that we've covered the installation for today are FOSS. Many aren't even Open Source. We're trying to be complete with all of the various applications in the browser spectrum that people may wish to use - for even the most obscure above, tens of thousands of people use it as their daily driver, or as a particular tool for a job that they perform every day.

I'm going to explain why I decided to include one browser in particular. Years ago...

Microsoft's current version for Windows Internet Exploder was either 3.01b or 3.02b at the time, and this was the only time that I've ever seen this - so I actually have a copy of this browser. In my wanderings across this planet I've seen people complain over the years about there not being any Internet Explorer for Linux, and indeed, this is the case. In fact, in my experience, I've never seen a port of Internet Explorer for any of the Unices (Apple products excepted), until one day when I was installing a Sun Enterprise server running Solaris. I just happened to notice when looking through the files that I saw the rarest of all creatures...

A lone Internet Exploder, version 3.02b (or maybe 3.01b) for Solaris! For Solaris? Why? No, not really why? but given the proof that they could have a port for Linux at anytime and haven't, yet they cozy up to Sun Microsystems and offer a port of Explorer that is supported on Solaris. WoW!

I quickly fell into a state of perplexity. Why Solaris and no one else? Why not Linux? Why not AIX or HP-UX? Why bother at all if they're not going to make it available for Linux and the BSDs too, and I thought long and hard about this.

I still do, and I have a lot of answers. None of which are truly acceptable. Yes, Ballmer called Linux a cancer, now they hug it like a redwood tree. But think of what could have been.

So... Why did I include Microsoft Edge here in this article?

I was being charitable, as I continue looking down my nose at Redmond, dismissively, disparagingly, with just a tinge of a smile containing just a hint of my condescension.

I'll probably continue to add a browser package here and there to this article when I feel it's warranted. There are a lot, and this only covers the most popular and it was good to get these out of the way so perhaps I can tend to the more obscure or peculiar at some other point in time.

I hope that helps!

tallship #FOSS #browsers #Microsoft_Edge #Firefox #Vivaldi #Brave_Browser #DuckDuckGo #Chromium #Opera #Chawan #Lagrange #Tor #Lynx #Elinks #Links #Nyxt #Epiphany #Falcon #Konqueror

⛵

YASH - Not the shell - Hacktoberbest :)

Bradley D. Thornton — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 03:10:50 +0000

Yes indeed, Yet Another Successful Hacktoberfest (YASH) has concluded, the PR counts are in and verified, Hactoberfest 2021 DEV.to badges have been claimed, and T-Shirts (or Trees to be planted) are on their way to all of the mailboxes of participants.

This annual celebration of the ending of Hacktoberfest, especially for those of us who have participated in it for the past several years, is an affirmation of the significance and benefit of FOSS and Open Source in general.

Each and every past participant knows the relevance of bringing the world of Open Source to the community at large - and not just programmers either! Many are authors and documentarians, more extremely important aspects of continuous integration and the usage of Linus Torvalds' creation in Git.

This time Both GitHub and GitLab were included as available resources for generating valid pull requests, and rightly so - because the creation of code and content aren't limited to just one single forge any more than the spirit of open source software is limited to an elite crew of mavericks - this is mainstream, and to be certain, something that over the last few years has been proven as one of the most significant disruptors in software development.

By incorporating the carrot and carrot approach we have been able to encourage thousands upon thousands of new onboarders to the world of open source, from neophytes to hobbyists to seasoned programmers from the world of proprietary closed source philosophies, the opportunity and importance of open source is unfolded, presented as something that all of us can gain advantage from the adoption of, and further, create a richer, more wonderful ecosystem of development in software engineering, publishing, and even sharing recipes.

With all of these things being realized, the closing of each years annual Hacktoberfest is not an ending, but indeed a beginning, for each new participant that we encouraged and welcomed to participate, and it heralds a new era for tomorrows magnificent possibilities.

Already, our sights are focused on this new beginning, and plans for the next, and best ever, Hacktoberfest 2022.

Thank you all for attending, and especially, a wholeheartedly congratulatory thanks to all of the newest members of the Hacktoberfest family who took the time to successfully complete their first year!

FOSS, open source, self-hosted, time tracking

Bradley D. Thornton — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 21:49:00 +0000

Options for FOSS based, self-hosted, Time Trackers.

I'm looking for an Open Source, self-hosted, timer/task tracking solution that I can use for billable time and other various categories, with decent reporting capabilities.

Using this for development projects to manage and calculate my time spent on various aspects of time spent, including billable time and other definable categories like phone support in customer interactions, writing emails, time spent on dev, testing, maintenance, security patching and updates, etc.

It would be nice if I found something that has cross platform support too, like Android and Windows clients and/or a web interface, but certainly a good self-hosted, sever based, UNIX (Linux) solution.

Ideally, the tracking system would be able to be sync'd with local offline databases (git repos or NextCloud would be awesome)when unable/inconvenient to connect with the server, and most especially, one that I can host on a server in the cloud.

Any comments, suggestions, are welcome :)

What is Hactoberfest to you?

Bradley D. Thornton — Sat, 02 Nov 2019 23:23:48 +0000

Well Hactoberfest 2019 has come and is in the process of winding down. For most, it's a matter of checking their mail for some really kewl schwag, a t-shirt (or two, if last year is any indication) and some neat laptop stickers to proudly announce that the owner of that deck lid is a certified FOSSie.

But what is the real value in Hactoberfest? Beyond the incentive to exchange scwhag for PRs? is it in recognition of services rendered? Is it in the self-gratification that a task was completed resulting in gifts of appreciation?

Therein lies the crux, I believe, contained right there in that last sentence - appreciation. Certainly, you're thinking, 'Yes, he's referring to appreciation from the FOSS community', but no, I think it's the appreciation of accomplishment that one derives from being first persuaded, and then astonished, that they too can actually be one of these enigmatic contributors to the community.

It's not about what we're going to get from it, it's about bringing people into the fold, showing them that they too can do this, can participate, be a valuable asset to the community, and welcomed for doing so.

It's about the appreciation that one has for one's self, in knowing that not only can someone else rely upon them, but that they can rely upon themselves. And in the end, they feel good about themselves moving forward with a new confidence to help as a contributor to FOSS and even, make new friends, mentors, and change the world we live in.

And.... Okay, sure. It's about the schwag too ;)