By default when using Linux Development Environment, any Linux applications we wish to install, will need to be installed by typing commands into a terminal window. As you may not be familiar with this method for installing software, to make the process simpler we can use a Software Management Utility like Flatpak.
Notes: While Flatpak will give us a fairly extensive range of applications to install. We have found that not all applications in the Flatpak hub will run in the instance of Linux installed in ChromeOS.
Quick reference notes:
- Open the Linux Development Environment menu
- From within the menu select Penguin to open a Linux Terminal windows
- First we are going to check for update by typing:
sudo apt update- As we did not have any updates, there was no need to perform an update. However, if you need to update the applications and services in your instance of Linux you will need to type:
sudo apt-get dist-upgradeNotes: After updating Linux, we recommend that you close Linux and reboot your Chromebook before you try and install Flatpak. If you right click on the Terminal icon we place in the Dock, a quick menu will appear giving you the option to shutdown Linux.
- We now need to install Flatpak. To do this we need to type:
sudo apt install flatpak - We are now informed as to which packages need to be installed into Linux and asked if we wish to continue.
- If we type Y for yes, when we press enter Flatpak will be installed.
- Flatpak will have been installed onto our Chromebook when we see the command prompt.
Reference materials:
- Google support article – Setup Linux on your Chromebook
- Wikipedia – Virtual Machine
- Web site – Flatpak.org
- Web resource – Flathub
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