Do you know? You can install a Linux application on your Chromebook and use it. With the latest release of Chrome OS, you can now install Linux applications. For that, you have to install a Linux development environment.
Linux is a free and open-source operating system adored by developers for many reasons. Now it’s on your Chromebook. Here is a complete guide on installing Linux applications on your Chromebook.
How to Install Linux Apps on Chromebook
Before you install Linux Application on your Chromebook, you have to enable Linux Development Environment on your device.
After that, you are ready to install any Linux apps on your Chromebook. Here, we will share two different ways to install Linux applications:
1. Install Linux Apps Using the Terminal
On Linux, you must use the Terminal to execute any actions. For the installation, all you need to know is the terminal command. To know the terminal command, you can visit the official website of the app you want to install and look for the terminal command.
Note:- You can install any Linux application using this terminal command: sudo apt-get install package_name -y, where “package name” refers to the actual name of the application you wish to install.
For example, if you want to install the popular image editor called GIMP, here are the steps you need to follow:
Step 1: Open the Linux terminal. For that, click on the “App Launcher” icon. Now look for the Linux app folder and click on the “Terminal” icon to open it. If you did not get the terminal command, click on the penguin option. Now, it should open the terminal.
Step 2: Now, to install the GIMP Linux app, you need to run the following command on the terminal and hit enter
sudo apt-get install gimp -y
Step 3: To open GIMP, click on the “App Launcher” icon and look for the Linux apps folder. Here you will find all the installed Linux apps. Then click on the GIMP icon to open it.
2. Installing Linux Apps Using the .deb file
You can directly download the.deb Linux installer files from the official website for any application if you don’t want to install it through the Linux terminal. It is a bit simpler method for installing Linux apps on your Chromebook. For example, let us install Minecraft.
Step 1: Visit the official website and download the Minecraft.deb installer file for Debian/Ubuntu. After the download is complete, move the downloaded file to the “Linux files” section; inside the Files app.
Step 2: Double-click the Minecraft.deb file. Here, you will get a Linux application installation window. Click on the “Install” button to install Minecraft on your Chromebook using the .deb Linux installer file.
Step 3: Click on the “App Launcher” icon now and browse for the Linux apps folder to open “Minecraft Launcher.” All of the installed Linux applications can be found here.
Conclusion
That’s it; this is how you can install Linux apps on your Chromebook. If you want to install Android apps, you can check our guide on; how to install Android Apps on Chromebook. You can also check out our Chromebook troubleshooting guide if you are new to Chromebook and Chrome OS.
I hope this Chromebook guide was helpful to you. If you liked the article, share it with your friends. If you have some suggestions or doubts, do not hesitate to leave them in the comments section. We are always there to assist you.
