How to install the Beaker browser on Linux
The Beaker browser is an “experimental” next-gen web browser for Mac, Linux, and Windows that, when installed, allows users to host, download and distribute web pages and files. All of the data in Beaker is distributed with the Dat P2P protocol. This protocol is still relatively new but promises to allow anyone to create and share data online without the need to worry about privacy or cost.
Beaker has excellent Linux support, and the developers make that clear with their documentation. In this guide, we’ll show you how to get the app going on all major Linux operating systems.
Ubuntu/Debian instructions
Beaker doesn’t have a downloadable DEB package file available for download. So, if you’re an Ubuntu or Debian user and you’re looking to get a native version of the browser working without the AppImage, you must compile the source code.
Compiling the source code of the Beaker browser is pretty simple. It has very little in the way of dependencies, so it’s guaranteed to work.
To get the dependencies installed on Ubuntu or Debian Linux, launch a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T. Then, enter the commands into the console window.
sudo apt install libtool m4 make g++ git npm
Or, for Debian, run:
sudo apt-get install libtool m4 make g++ git npm
With the dependencies required to build the Beaker browser installed and ready to go, it’s time to download the source code from the project’s GitHub page.
git clone https://github.com/beakerbrowser/beaker.git
Using the CD command, change the working directory of your terminal from the home folder (~/) to the newly created “beaker” directory.
cd ~/beaker
Inside the new “beaker” code folder, use npm install to install all of the necessary modules.
npm install
When the npm install command finishes, use npm run rebuild to finish up the code build process.
npm run rebuild
After the code is taken care of, you must create a launch script with the commands below. However, keep in mind, that when you get to the fifth command, edit /home/username/beaker and change “username” to your Linux PC’s actual username.
sudo -s
touch /usr/bin/beaker-browser echo '#!/bin/bash/' > /usr/bin/beaker-browser echo ' ' >> /usr/bin/beaker-browser echo 'cd /home/username/beaker/' >> /usr/bin/beaker-browser echo ' ' >> /usr/bin/beaker-browser echo 'npm start' >> /usr/bin/beaker-browser chmod +x /usr/bin/beaker-browser
Log out of the root user by running the exit command. Then, use wget to grab the Beaker browser’s icon image.
exit
cd ~/beaker wget https://i.imgur.com/3mCUpiH.png -O beaker.png
Make a new desktop shortcut with the touch command. Then, open up Beaker.desktop with Nano.
sudo touch /usr/share/applications/beaker-browser.desktop
sudo nano /usr/share/applications/beaker-browser.desktop
Paste the following code into the Nano text editor. Be sure to look through and find Icon=/home/username/beaker/beaker.png and swap “username” out with your Linux computer’s username.
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Beaker Browser
Comment=An Experimental Peer-to-Peer Web Browser.
Exec="/usr/bin/beaker-browser" %U
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Icon=/home/username/beaker/beaker.png
GenericName=Web Browser
MimeType=text/html;text/xml;application/xhtml+xml;application/xml;application/rss+xml;application/rdf+xml;image/gif;image/jpe$
Categories=Network;
Save the edits to Nano by pressing Ctrl + O on the keyboard. Then, close Nano with Ctrl + X.
Once Nano is closed, use the chmod command to update the permissions of the shortcut. Then, update the permissions of the Beaker desktop shortcut using the chmod command.
sudo chmod +x /usr/share/applications/beaker-browser.desktop
With the permissions updated, you’ll be able to launch the Beaker P2P web browser on Ubuntu or Debian by going to “Internet” in the application menu on the desktop.
Arch Linux instructions
Beaker is on the AUR, as you might expect. If you want to get it running, you’ll need to install a few packages. Specifically, Git and Base-devel. To install these packages, launch a terminal window. Then, enter the Pacman package command below.
sudo pacman -S git base-devel
Once the two packages are installed, download and build the Trizen AUR helper with the git clone command. It will make installing Beaker, along with its build dependencies a lot quicker.
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/trizen.git cd trizen makepkg -sri
With Trizen set up, use it to install the Beaker AUR package. Keep in mind that when you use this tool, it’ll also be downloading and getting necessary build-time dependencies.
trizen -S beaker-browser-bin
Fedora/OpenSUSE instructions
If you’re a Fedora or OpenSUSE user and interested in using the Beaker browser, but don’t like AppImage, building from source is the only way. Thankfully, the developer outlines the dependency files Redhat-based Linux distribution users need.
To get the dependencies installed, you must launch a terminal session with the Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T keyboard combination.
Once you’ve got a terminal session open, follow the installation instructions for either Fedora or OpenSUSE.
Fedora
sudo dnf install libtool m4 make gcc-c++ git npm
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper install libtool m4 make gcc-c++ npm8
The dependencies are set up. Now, it’s time to use the git clone command to download the latest release of Beaker from the project’s GitHub.
git clone https://github.com/beakerbrowser/beaker.git
cd ~/beaker npm install
Build a release of Beaker using the npm run rebuild command.
npm run rebuild
Next, create a launch script.
Note: edit /home/username/beaker in the fifth line below and change it to the username on the computer you’re using Beaker on.
su -
touch /usr/bin/beaker-browser echo '#!/bin/bash/' > /usr/bin/beaker-browser echo ' ' >> /usr/bin/beaker-browser echo 'cd /home/username/beaker/' >> /usr/bin/beaker-browser echo ' ' >> /usr/bin/beaker-browser echo 'npm start' >> /usr/bin/beaker-browser chmod +x /usr/bin/beaker-browser
Exit the Root user using the exit command.
exit
Download the icon file to the ~/beaker folder using wget.
cd ~/beaker wget https://i.imgur.com/3mCUpiH.png -O beaker.png
Use the touch command and make a new Beaker shortcut file.
sudo touch /usr/share/applications/beaker-browser.desktop
Open the file in Nano.
sudo nano /usr/share/applications/beaker-browser.desktop
Paste the code below into Nano.
Note: find Icon=/home/username/beaker/beaker.png and change “username” to your Linux PC’s username.
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Beaker Browser
Comment=An Experimental Peer-to-Peer Web Browser.
Exec="/usr/bin/beaker-browser" %U
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Icon=/home/username/beaker/beaker.png
GenericName=Web Browser
MimeType=text/html;text/xml;application/xhtml+xml;application/xml;application/rss+xml;application/rdf+xml;image/gif;image/jpe$
Categories=Network;
Save the edits to Nano by pressing Ctrl + O and exit the editor with Ctrl + X. Then, update the permissions of the Beaker desktop shortcut using the chmod command.
sudo chmod +x /usr/share/applications/beaker-browser.desktop
If permissions update correctly, you’ll be able to launch the Beaker browser by opening up the “Internet” section of the app menu.
AppImage instructions
The preferred way to use Beaker, at least according to the developer is via the AppImage file on their website. It’s understandable why they’d want users to download their program in this way. AppImages take out the need for compiling the code. To get your hands on the AppImage release, launch a terminal window. Then, use the wget command to download the file.
wget https://github.com/beakerbrowser/beaker/releases/download/0.8.2/beaker-browser-0.8.2-x86_64.AppImage
Move the Beaker AppImage file into a new “AppImages” folder to keep it safe from accidental deletion.
mkdir -p ~/AppImages mv beaker-browser-0.8.2-x86_64.AppImage ~/AppImages
Update the permissions of the AppImage release using chmod.
sudo chmod +x ~/AppImages/beaker-browser-0.8.2-x86_64.AppImage
Start the program for the first time with the following commands.
cd ~/AppImages ./beaker-browser-0.8.2-x86_64.AppImage
Select the ‘yes’ option in the prompt that appears on the screen to allow the AppImage dialog to create a new desktop shortcut. Then, go back to the terminal and press Ctrl + C to close it. From now on, you should be able to launch “Beaker” by going to the “Internet” section in the app menu.
