Personal Log 2020-01-02
The default web browser that came installed for my Raspberry Pi (Raspberry Pi OS) was Chromium. I wanted to change the default web browser to Firefox.
Install Firefox (sudo apt install firefox-esr). I chose the Extended Support Release (ESR) option (from apt-cache search firefox).
Use the update-alternatives command to see what is currently being used as the default web browser. For example:
🖥 update-alternatives --get-selections | grep -i chromium
📟 gnome-www-browser auto /usr/bin/chromium-browser
📟 x-www-browser auto /usr/bin/chromium-browser
From update-alternatives --help, the --display and --config flags are also useful.
--display <name> display information about the <name> group.
--config <name> show alternatives for the <name> group and ask the
user to select which one to use.
I was surprised to find another browser on my system called dillo.
🖥 update-alternatives --display x-www-browser
📟 x-www-browser - auto mode
link best version is /usr/bin/chromium-browser
link currently points to /usr/bin/chromium-browser
link x-www-browser is /usr/bin/x-www-browser
slave x-www-browser.1.gz is /usr/share/man/man1/x-www-browser.1.gz
📟 /usr/bin/chromium-browser - priority 90
📟 /usr/bin/dillo - priority 50
slave x-www-browser.1.gz: /usr/share/man/man1/dillo.1.gz
📟 /usr/bin/firefox-esr - priority 70
slave x-www-browser.1.gz: /usr/share/man/man1/firefox-esr.1.gz
I set Firefox as the default for both x-www-browser and gnome-www-browser. Note that sudo is required for these operations.
🖥 sudo update-alternatives --config x-www-browser
📟 There are 3 choices for the alternative x-www-browser (providing /usr/bin/x-www-browser).
📟 Selection Path Priority Status
------------------------------------------------------------
* 0 /usr/bin/chromium-browser 90 auto mode
1 /usr/bin/chromium-browser 90 manual mode
2 /usr/bin/dillo 50 manual mode
3 /usr/bin/firefox-esr 70 manual mode
🖥 Press <enter> to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number: 3
📟 update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/firefox-esr to provide /usr/bin/x-www-browser (x-www-browser) in manual mode
🖥 sudo update-alternatives --config gnome-www-browser
📟 There are 2 choices for the alternative gnome-www-browser (providing /usr/bin/gnome-www-browser).
📟 Selection Path Priority Status
------------------------------------------------------------
* 0 /usr/bin/chromium-browser 90 auto mode
1 /usr/bin/chromium-browser 90 manual mode
2 /usr/bin/firefox-esr 70 manual mode
🖥 Press to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number: 2
📟 update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/firefox-esr to provide /usr/bin/gnome-www-browser (gnome-www-browser) in manual mode
Install the program that you wish to set as default, find the name for the type of program (e.g. x-www-browser), and use the update-alternatives --config <name> command to select it as the default.