It was at the end of last year when Microsoft Edge released its first stable version for Linux and although it seemed then that everything was already done, taking into account the long road traveled to reach that moment, the truth is that the Redmond web browser is still sinning of a ballast of the most unusual: it is not updated!
That is to say: you go to the official Microsoft Edge download page , choose the package that corresponds to the distribution you use (Deb for Debian and Ubuntu, RPM for Fedora and openSUSE, etc.), install it and… unlike any other Of the large web browsers on the market that are available for Linux, it does not add any repository to the system that facilitates the automatic updating of the application.
That Microsoft Edge does not include its own repository is not only an anomaly with the added inconvenience of having to manually download and update each new version that comes out: it is irresponsible behavior on the part of Microsoft, since a browser that does not receive updates is a risk to system security . And it is that Microsoft Edge does not even warn that there is a new version to download.
It escapes me why Microsoft Edge drags such a deficiency in Linux, when it is one of the most popular browsers today precisely because of the care that its developers put in all its features. And, beware, because in Linux it has been better received than might be expected. I myself have it installed to test it from time to time and I had missed the repository issue until recently.
Well, let’s see how to correct this mess, which had made me consider an opinion article to pester, but I think I’ve already expanded, and it’s up to see how to solve the problem.
How to add Microsoft Edge repositories for Linux
Curiously, Microsoft has a solution for all this, although it is not the ideal one, that is, the automatic addition of the repository once the package is installed. Just go to the Microsoft Edge Insider channel page , where there are the Beta and Dev versions of the browser, as well as the instructions for “command line installation”, in case you are “a fan of Linux” and want to ” configure PPA yourself» (!).
The point is that the “command line installation” consists of adding the Microsoft Edge repository for Debian and Ubuntu, Fedora or openSUSE for the Beta or Dev channels… although the truth is that the repository includes the three versions of the browser: the Beta, the Dev, but also the stable one . Just need to tweak the instructions a bit. Let’s go with it?
Microsoft Edge for Debian and Ubuntu
curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor > microsoft.gpg
sudo install -o root -g root -m 644 microsoft.gpg /usr/share/keyrings/
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/microsoft.gpg] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/edge stable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft-edge.list'
sudo rm microsoft.gpg
sudo apt update
sudo apt install microsoft-edge-stable
Microsoft Edge for Fedora
sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/edge
sudo mv /etc/yum.repos.d/packages.microsoft.com_yumrepos_edge.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/microsoft-edge.repo
sudo dnf install microsoft-edge-stable
Microsoft Edge for openSUSE
sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
sudo zypper ar https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/edge microsoft-edge
sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper install microsoft-edge-stable
And that’s it.
Do you use any other distribution not officially supported? Microsoft Edge is on Flathub and, by the looks of it, well maintained. It is a resource to be taken into account because of its accessibility; as is the package available in the AUR for Arch Linux and derivatives. However, due to the proprietary nature of the browser, it is incomprehensible that the official media are not in charge of facilitating such a delicate point as the update.
In this last regard, it is also worth mentioning that Microsoft has a mega-repository for Linux where practically everything the company offers is located, although pulling it when not using many things is like killing a fly with a cannonball.
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