How to use XMPP chat on a Chromebook
XMPP, despite being very old, is still widely used. If you use an XMPP server and want to be able to chat with your friends and family over this protocol on your Chromebook, you can install Dino. Dino is an excellent Linux app that supports both XMPP and Jabber. Here’s how to use it on your Chromebook.
Enable Linux on Chrome OS
To use the Dino IM client on your Chromebook, Linux support must be enabled. Thankfully, enabling Linux support on Chrome OS is pretty easy. To start, click on the clock icon, then select the gear icon. When you click on the gear icon, it’ll load up the Chrome OS “Settings” area.
Inside the Chrome OS settings area, find the “Advanced” section and click on the drop-down arrow button. When you select this button, you’ll see some more advanced Chrome OS options.
In the “Advanced” area of “Settings,” find “Developers,” and click on it with the mouse. Then, look through the “Developers” settings for the Linux developer environment area, and click on the “Turn on” button. Selecting “Turn on” will set up a Debian Linux container, and a terminal app in Chrome OS.
When everything is set up the Chrome OS terminal will launch. Find “Penguin,” and select it to access the Chrome OS Linux terminal. Then, use the apt update command to update the Linux system.
sudo apt update
After running the update command, you need to run the upgrade command to install the software upgrades in the Chrome OS Linux container.
sudo apt upgrade
When everything is up to date, you can install Linux applications, like Dino IM on your Chromebook.
How to install the Dino IM client
The Dino IM client is an elegant, and easy-to-use XMPP/Jabber IM client for Linux systems. However, it works perfectly for XMPP messaging, calling, etc., on Chrome OS. However, you’ll need to install the app on your Chromebook first.
To install Dino, start by opening up the Chrome OS terminal app. Once the terminal is open, find the “Penguin” option, and click on it with the mouse. By selecting “Penguin,” you’ll load up the Linux terminal interface for your Chromebook.
Inside the Linux terminal interface, use the apt install command to set up the “flatpak” package. This package is needed to run the Dino application, as it is a Flatpak app on Flathub.
sudo apt install flatpak
Once the Flatpak package is installed on your Chrome OS Linux container, you need to install the Flathub app store. This app store provides Flatpak applications, including Dino. To install the Flathub app store, enter the following command in the Chrome OS terminal app.
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 can quickly install the Dino IM client on your Linux system with the following flatpak install command.
flatpak install flathub im.dino.Dino
Once the command is complete, the Dino IM client is installed. From here, you can launch it and start using it on your Chrome OS device. Launch it from the “Linux apps” folder in the Chrome OS app menu.
How to create an XMPP account to use Dino IM on your Chromebook
If you don’t already have an XMPP account to use in Dino IM, you’ll need one. To create one, do the following. First, launch Dino IM from the Chrome OS app menu. Once it is open, find the “Setup account” button in Dino, and click on it with the mouse.
When you click the “Setup account” button, a pop-up window will appear. In this pop-up window, find the “Create account” button, and click on it with the mouse. Upon selecting the “Create account” button, browse through the servers, choose one, and sign up.
Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be given a username. For example, if you signed up at “yax.im,” you’ll have a @yax.im account.
Using Dino IM
With your Dino IM account created, log in (or sign up) and give out your XMPP ID. You can then begin chatting by doing the following. First, click on the “+” button in the top-left corner.
After clicking on the “+” select “Start Conversation,” and contact friends on your contact list. Alternatively, you can join a channel by selecting “Join Channel.” Enjoy, and happy chatting!
