How did Brave mess up the linux version so badly!?!?!?!?

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I have an older desktop that doesn’t support Windows 11, so I put it on ubuntu linux, to be able to continue using it to stream and browse and whatnot.

I support Windows professionally, I know my way around a desktop computer, and I’m moderately comfortable with linux - but sometimes am baffled by the completely illogical and unintuitive design choices that plague linux, and will continue to keep it from ever gaining widespread use, since the community seems to love to live in denial about these things. I have no love for Microsoft, but there’s a reason it’s the most widely used OS - they understand the concept of user friendly, something linux can’t seem to ever grasp.

This is a prime example of that.

My install of Brave has decided it will flat out refuse to update itself anymore, and will bark about it. Every time I launch it, it shows that it is outdated, and will not update. I would expect a rather simple and basic concept of taking an update to be something that would be hard to get this wrong, and yet here we are. So, ok, it provides a link to the site. Which provides a console command to run that should bring it up to date.

I run the command in the console, provided by the brave website, and what I end up with are 2 installations of brave in the start menu, one called brave that opens the old outdated refuses to update one, and one called brave browser that opens up fine and is up to date. But - if I pin it, and close it, and reopen the pin, the pinning continues to open the old one that barks about being out of date.

You’d think it would be simple enough to program something to take an update instead of have 2 versions side by side, unless one specifically chose to install that way, and you’d think a shortcut would pin properly to the actual app that was actually opened instead of to a rogue unwanted app that wasn’t opened. And yet, here we are.

So I go into the gui based app manager to see about uninstalling things to clean things up - and it doesn’t show any version of brave installed. While Windows has had the basic concept of an app management that shows you everything installed, linux is living in some sort of fantasy world where it’s desirable to just not have that basic functionality - things live wherever, who knows what the hell is where, and the app management only applies to things specifically installed through that management. In what world is this considered user friendly? Ok, whatever, if I install it through here, it’ll be here, and it’ll be the latest version, and it’ll update through here - so I install it. And now I have a 3rd #$@%@#ing install of Brave. Whatever - if it works, it works. Well - it works if I launch it from the app manager. But when I pin it, and close it, clicking the pinned icon barks that it doesn’t exist. Except that it does exist, because if I open it from the app manager, boom, there it is.

Ok, it seems that linux’s lack of standards means it’s possible to have conflicting installs of the same app - seems I need to bring things down from 3 to 0, and pick a way, and install one and only one. Simple enough, right? Oh hell no - this is linux we’re talking about.

So, I uninstall it from the app manager, easy enough.

I look up a command line command to uninstall it from the command line.

And that leaves us with the original out of date install that won’t update.

THERE’S NO F#^)&@#$%&ING WAY TO REMOVE IT!!!

console commands won’t remove it - as far as it’s concerned, there is no brave install.

Using some AI assistance had me run commands to see where it’s running from while launched, which refers to /app/brave/brave. However - THERE IS NO /app FOLDER IN EXISTENCE!!!

So please, for the love of almight - HOW IN THE HECK DO I RID THIS STUPID ASS OS OF THIS MYTHICAL BRAVE INSTALL THAT EXISTS AND DOESN’T EXIST - AND HOW IN THE HECK COULD WE CONVINCE SOMEONE WITH ACTUAL PROGRAMMING COMPETENCE AROUND HERE TO MAKE A LINUX VERSION OF BRAVE THAT ACTUALLY HAS SANITY AND CAN ACTUALLY TAKE A DAMN UPDATE!!!

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@JonnyGators Linux is indeed a challenging, which is why I have never used it. It’s designed to give people more control but it also makes everyone go through more hoops and hurdles.

Let me ask, which method did you use to install Brave? Did you follow instructions as shared at https://brave.com/linux/ or what did you do?

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A very good question, and one I would include the answer to in the original post if I knew it. I can only infer from today’s context that it wasn’t from a console command or from the app management, because I’d expect if it was, those methods of reinstall would’ve updated, and those methods of uninstall would have worked. I would have followed a path that would have made sense to an end user going to the site and being presented with options at that time. I can only guess that somehow I was guided to download and run a package, which may have done some sort of install that lies out of recognition from the other methods, but is leaving no intuitive path to remove, and is getting all up in other installations business. But - that’s only guesswork and filling in from context, in reality I have no idea how it got there, or where it is, or why linux will allow no clear path forward to remove it.

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Hi friend,

First off, I am sorry for not providing a solution to this. But I do want to “echo” some feelings you shared.

I want to say from the get-go that I don’t think it’s only “Brave’s fault”, as Linux in general could have its “quirks”. You use Ubuntu, I use EndeavourOS (Arch, basically).

Ever since some months ago, I’ve started to have little stupid issues. One is that opening a private window takes a second to pop-up (Firefox, Vivaldi, Chrome, etc. don’t have this issue) and if I put that window on another VD, it starts lagging and becoming unresponsive. But if I put it on the main VD, it works fine. This could be something with Arch / Arch Based, sure, but other browsers (even Falkon, lol) don’t have it. Minor inconvenience, not a big deal.

Then, when I installed Deb 13 a month or less ago on the other disk and got Brave, when I synced that new client with the chain I had, it broke all my logins in my main OS (Endeavour) and logged me out of everything. This is a pretty common issue with Arch and Brave, that it simply logs you out or has issues with the cache/cookies save. Sometimes I am literally randomly logged out from a site for no reason. And it’s not a bank or something that logs you out after a while. I’m talking PC store sites or something that I’ve been logged in for like 2 months in a row with no issues. In fact, some months back when the other issues started, I had many problems with OneDrive. Specifically. Not Microsoft as a whole.

And now I am having an issue where whenever I want to access a site, it displays “DNS Error” half a second, and then it loads the site completely fine. I don’t know what is going on, really.

None of these issues are a big issue and I use Chrome as a “work browser” only, so aside from that, Brave is the best browser to use today imo. But all these minor, weird inconveniences add up and start to become annoying.
I understand MacOS and Windows might be priority, but considering Brave’s selling point is taking back control of your browsing, bypassing the block from YT, etc. one would think they would go quite ham on the Linux side.

And if anyone wonders… yes. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Brave. Uninstalled completely, deleted saved cache, the saved folder, everything. And on each new install, the private window problem (and others) persist.

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I believe it is about how you install Brave in the first place. Usually it is not preffered to download program via browser, but through packet manager or terminal. That way you download it from official linux sources, providing stable version of the program for your OS. You can update program automatically through paclet manager or manually through terminal.

It seems like you tried to install program from different sources, which resulted in multiple versions of Brave installed.

I believe it is mostly about Linux and its management of programs and updates, not specifically about Brave. Try not to treat Linux as Windows (at least it is disrespectfull ;).

Hope it helps.

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Nothing here has helped. Somehow I installed Brave through one of many official methods it can be done, and somehow there is no way to uninstall it, and it seems no one can actually answer the simple question of how to uninstall the damn program, since it’s update ability is so broken. Maybe I made a mistake switching to Brave, if they are going to be this ridiculously inept at making a linux version…

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@Mattches can you read through and perhaps offer any advice?

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It highly depends on how did you install it in the first place. Did you download it in browser?

Use dpkg -l | grep brave to find out which packages with keyword brave have you installed. Usually it is ‘brave-browser’

sudo apt purge brave-browser in terminal should work to remove Brave with all its configuration files (or use sudo apt remove brave-browser to preserve configurations. You can additionaly use sudo apt autoremove to remove all possible leftovers.) if it was installed using apt.

If installed with snap: sudo snap remove --purge brave

If installed as flatpack: flatpak remove com.brave.Browser

sudo apt update after uninstallation to update list of installed packages.

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@JanezPavelZebovec is asking the right questions and the suggested commands should do the trick.

If they don’t, @JonnyGators can you briefly show me what the outdated version of the browser you’re referring to that you can’t uninstall looks like?

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Once all those are uinstalled, it might be a good idea to run
locate -b brave | less

to see what debris, if any, is still there. Locate is similar to find, but easier and faster to use. Its piped into the less pager so the results don’t fly by if there are more than a few. What to do with anything found depends on what it is and where it is.

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It isn’t about being disrespectful to Linux, but more about having operating systems that work easy for regular users that don’t have a nerd brain to figure things out. I would assume that Linux would have a desire to bring more users to it and doing that should make sense. I would think having one way to uninstall a program from any potential install method would be optimal. To be fair Windows has had programs that won’t uninstall and you have do extra to get them out as well. Is there a program like Window’s Revo Uninstaller that will find and fix this sort of thing in Linux, basically a one stop uninstall program?

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I believe Ubuntu has installed (graphical) packet manager as default and that program should be used by regular users for installation/unistallation processes easily (like Google Play on Android) - but, as I understand - this program was not used, instead he chose installation through browser, which is on Linux rarely used method of installation, mostly because of insecurity and possible incompatibility.

There are many versions of Linux for which no “nerd brains” are needed. There are even versions that perfectly emulate Windows: Wubuntu, LinuxFx etc., though I am not keen of these versions as I think it is unnecessarily and unwise to emulate Windows if it can be done better (even for regular user). That is the reason why version/distibution like Ubuntu is not identical to Windows, instead it has some things done differently (better at most) and therefore needs some (very little) basic kbowledge.

One of the best things about Linux is that it doesn’t offer only regular use but also advanced one - it theoretically enables all usecases, proportionally to user “nerdness” or expiriency

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This isn’t entirely “Brave’s fault,” but Brave does have terrible Linux support and i18n support: https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20state%3Aopen%20sort%3Acomments-desc%20label%3AOS%2FLinux%20label%3Ai18n

Inputting Chinese characters on Linux will cause duplicates and crashes. This issue has persisted for over a year with no progress. I have considered switching to flatpak & Zen Browser.

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I don't understand what your problem is, I've been using Linux since 2003 and happily abandoned Windows from version 8.
I have a much older computer than yours and that at most would support windows 10, but with Linux it goes that is a beauty, I installed Debian 12 which is guaranteed for updates for another 9/10 years, I use Brave as my main browser, installed as a Debian package, it works great and updates regularly, to uninstall it just open the package manager and simply uninstall it, or write on the console <sudo apt-get purge brave-browser>.
You can also install it as a flatpak, appimage, or snapshot program.
If anything, you should review the choice of Linux distro, and install Debian, Mint, Ubuntu or PureOs too, I always recommend Debian or PureOs, especially if you have an old computer, which are more reliable, easy to use, manage, fast and with fewer continuous updates.
However, the problem is not in Brave at least in the stable version.
With Linux you have to get a little carried away, but after that it is irreplaceable, now I despise Windows and I would never go back.
To install Brave-browser which is not an official Debian package you have to follow the instructions on the Brave website, but which are explained very well.
https://brave.com/linux/
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I have no resolution to @JonnyGators query because there’s insufficient information about how Brave was actually installed.

Brave provides instructions for installing the Brave browser in different versions of linux:

When I first installed Brave in 2022, the single-line command that’s currently at the top of the page I one-boxed wasn’t offered. I used a sequence of commands similar to the more verbose 5-command alternative listed for Debian (also for Ubuntu and Mint). It worked.

I can’t speak to other alternatives. With no knowledge of what @JonnyGators actually did, it’s difficult to provide any suggestions. But for anyone contemplating installing Brave on linux, the guidance provided on the Brave web page should be your first alternative.

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So following the different commands, what eventually removed it was the flatpak command to remove it. I don’t know how or why it got installed that way, why that install got it stuck to an inability to update that insisted a reinstall without steering me to a valid reinstallation method, why any reinstallation options I was steered towards only installed a second version alongside that the broken/nonupdatable one always overrode when trying to make shortcuts, or why the only way to uninstall it was to run the flatpak command from the terminal.

I chalked it up to, I must have followed a bad guide that had me do some specific process that trapped me in this corner, although that isn’t my recollection or my normal way of operating, but whatever, it’s out, lets start again.

So, I always love to ask the obvious question that no one seems to ever be able to answer - how is this meant to work? I am so sick and tired of getting a blank stare from people when I ask this simple question - no one ever seems to be prepared for it. This is a problem.

So - to me it seems how Ubuntu/software is meant to work is to open the software manager, search for what you’re looking for, be presented with an option, and click install. That’s intuitive, that makes sense. And so I do so.

And I search for brave

And 2 options for brave show up.

Huh….that’s odd. Why would that be? Why do I have 2 options? What are the difference. What am I meant to do here?

And then I notice these small piece of text that distinguish them.

The top option is labeled flatpak.

The one under it is labeled snap.

So it seems the chain of events is as follows:

  • I brought up the software manager to install brave, as is a normal intuitive process
  • I searched for brave and was presented with 2 options. I clicked the top 1, flatpak
  • Brave stopped being able to update itself
  • no intuitive path existed to rectify this situation - uninstallation could only be done by terminal with knowledge of flatpak, what or why it is, and knowledge that that choice was made - the intuitive path to install didn’t prepare the end user for this, and no intuitive uninstall path exists here.

So that leaves me with some very important questions:

  • why is Brave unable to update itself when installed with flatpak
  • why is Brave unable to be uninstalled by intuitive means when installed with flatpak?
  • Is flatpak your expected/recommended method of installation for end users?
    • why or why not?
  • If not - what is your expected method, and how are end users supposed to know or be led to this, when the most intuitive path leads them to flatpak?
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@JonnyGators

At the link suggested by @redbike9 above, notice the

We currently recommend that users who are able to use our official package repositories do so instead of using the Flatpak.

in:

image
image1170×1148 97.3 KB

[Flatpak] Brave is killed when closed despite toggling otherwise
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Seems to me Brave has a problem that the most logical/intuitive path new end users are presented with is with a known broken/problematic install. How does Brave intend to fix this?

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I hope this experience can possibly help Brave improve the linux experience, because as of now, it sucks for the new user following the intuitive path. But - this thread should have an answer, and I will post the answer for this example, in case someone else gets led down this path.

If your Brave is unable to update itself and is prompting you to reinstall, and you seem to be trapped in a state of being unable to uninstall, or unable to reinstall without ending up with 2 co-existing installations, you may have installed via flatpak. This is a known problematic method of installation, and is not recommended.

If this is indeed the case, running the command of “flatpak remove com.brave.Browser” from a terminal should complete an uninstall. (run “sudo apt update” after uninstallation to update list of installed packages)

If this has worked and you’ve confirmed Brave is no longer installed, install Brave through the recommended process found at https://brave.com/linux/

[Flatpak] Brave is killed when closed despite toggling otherwise