Claude Desktop for Linux Install Methods ? [Solved]

[operadude]

I'm interested in trying-out Claude Desktop (installed on system), but see that there is no official Linux version from the Claude website.

I see that some have figured-out how to do this. Such as:

https://github.com/aaddrick/claude-desktop-debian

On that page, MX-Linux is mentioned by name!

Building & Installation (Debian/Ubuntu based)
For Debian-based distributions (Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, MX Linux, etc.), you can build Claude Desktop using the provided build script. Use command-line flags to specify the desired output format (.deb or .AppImage) and whether to clean up intermediate build files.

The procedures in the README file seem straightforward:

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# Clone this repository
git clone https://github.com/aaddrick/claude-desktop-debian.git
cd claude-desktop-debian

# Build the package (Defaults to .deb and cleans build files)
./build.sh

# Example: Build an AppImage and keep intermediate files
./build.sh --build appimage --clean no

# Example: Build a .deb (explicitly) and clean intermediate files (default)
./build.sh --build deb --clean yes

With the explanation:

The script will automatically:

Check for and install required dependencies
Download and extract resources from the Windows version
Create a proper Debian package or AppImage
Perform the build steps based on selected flags

After Building:
If you chose Debian Package (.deb):
The script will output the path to the generated .deb file (e.g., claude-desktop_0.9.1_amd64.deb). Install it using dpkg:

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# Replace VERSION and ARCHITECTURE with the actual values from the filename
sudo dpkg -i ./claude-desktop_VERSION_ARCHITECTURE.deb 

# If you encounter dependency issues, run:
sudo apt --fix-broken install 

Also, for unistalling:

If you installed the .deb package, you can uninstall it using dpkg:

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sudo dpkg -r claude-desktop

And,

If you also want to remove configuration files (including MCP settings), use purge:

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sudo dpkg -P claude-desktop

And:

Configuration Files (Both Formats)
To remove user-specific configuration files (including MCP settings), regardless of installation method:

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rm -rf ~/.config/Claude

Wondering what you (experienced users) think about me trying this out!

I have a separate "Testing" partition that I don't mind breaking or completely destroying

[j2mcgreg]

Wondering what you (experienced users) think about me trying this out!

I have a separate "Testing" partition that I don't mind breaking or completely destroying

It's your machine and you can do what you want with it. I, however, have a separate machine and one that I don't really care about for attempting projects like this. You never know until the attempt is made whether a project will hose your system in ways you couldn't predict.

[operadude]

Wondering what you (experienced users) think about me trying this out!

I have a separate "Testing" partition that I don't mind breaking or completely destroying

It's your machine and you can do what you want with it. I, however, have a separate machine and one that I don't really care about for attempting projects like this. You never know until the attempt is made whether a project will hose your system in ways you couldn't predict.

Sound advice

I'll go that route

[Stevo]

Or you could try building/installing it on a live USB session or virtual machine. I wonder why they don't have any debs for download, though.

Almost all of the MX packages are built in schroot QEMU machines, that allows us to build for almost any platform, such as ARM chips on a common amd64 machine.

Also, their instructions for installing a deb and then fixing broken dependencies are old and broken themselves! MX ships with right-click and install context menus for debs that use the modern "apt" that do all that automatically. I think nala can also install debs from the command line in a more attractive format.

Hmmm--Claude is an AI desktop assistant. I hope it didn't come up with using "dpkg".