How to post to Mastodon from Chrome OS desktop
Mastodon is a decentralized social media network where anyone can host their own server and talk to others (federate). In this guide, we’ll show you how you can post to Mastodon from the Chrome OS desktop.
How to enable Linux on your Chromebook
Before you can post to Mastodon via a Linux client, you must enable Linux support on your Chromebook. To enable this feature, start by clicking on the clock icon in the Chrome OS dash. Then, select the gear icon to launch the settings area.
After loading up the Chrome OS settings area, scroll down and locate the “Advanced” section, and click on the arrow next to it. When you select this arrow, it’ll reveal many options, including “Developers.” Select “Developers,” and then locate “Linux developer environment.”
Inside the “Linux developer environment” area, click the “Turn on” button. Selecting this button will download the Linux development container to your Chromebook. It’ll also download a terminal app for your Chromebook, and launch it.
Inside the terminal app, find “Penguin,” and click on it with the mouse. After selecting this button, you’ll be logged into the Chrome OS Linux developer environment. From here, use the apt update command to update the container’s software sources.
sudo apt update
Once you’ve run the apt update command, you will need to update the apt upgrade command., This command will install any pending upgrades for the Linux container. The upgrade may take a few minutes to complete.
sudo apt upgrade
When the upgrade command is complete, you’ll be free to use the Chrome OS Linux developer environment to install Linux apps on Chrome OS.
How to install Tuba on Chrome OS
There are quite a few really nice Mastodon clients on Linux that can be utilized on Chrome OS. In this guide, we’ll focus on Tuba. However, there are many other ones in the Flathub app store you should check out.
To install the Tuba application on your Chromebook, you need to first enable the Flatpak runtime. Open up the Chrome OS terminal app, and select the “Penguin” option. After choosing “Penguin,” you’ll be loaded into the Chrome OS Linux command line. From here, use the apt command to install the “flatpak” package.
sudo apt install flatpak
With the Flatpak packages installed, you will need to enable the “Flathub” app store. Flathub is responsible for delivering a wide variety of Flatpak apps, including Tuba. To enable it, use the following flatpak remote-add command in a terminal.
flatpak --user remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
Once you’ve added the Flathub app store to your Chromebook, you will be able to install the Tuba application on your Chrome OS device using the following flatpak install command.
flatpak install flathub dev.geopjr.Tuba
How to post to Mastodon with Tuba
If you want to use the Tuba app to post to Mastodon, you need to log in. Launch the Tuba app via the Chrome OS app menu. Once it is open, you’ll be asked “What is your Server.” Enter your Mastodon instance URL into the text box.
Once you enter your Mastodon instance URL, it’ll open up in a web browser. Please note that due to the fact that Tuba is a Linux app, you may need to install a Linux web browser, instead of relying on Chrome for more information on Linux browsers on Chromebooks, click here.
When your browser opens, log into your Mastodon instance with your user account. After logging in, you’ll be asked if you want to connect the Tuba app to your account. Click the button to agree to connect your account to Tuba.
Posting toots to Mastodon
Now that your account is logged into Mastodon on Tuba, you can post. To post a toot, do the following. First, click the “Compose” button in the left-hand corner (visible while maximized.)
When you select the “Compose” button, a window will appear. In this window, you can write text to share with friends, attach media, etc. There is a limit of 500 characters (although some Mastodon instances may allow more characters). When you’re ready to post your toot, click the “Publish” button to post your toot to the Fediverse for all to read. Enjoy your journey in the Fediverse on Chrome OS!
