Chromium is an open source web browser. The project was founded by Google, which built Google Chrome on top of the code of Chromium. Sadly enough, only a Windows version of Google Chrome as been released, leaving the rest of us in the dust.

Chromium project logo

What I learned today is pretty awesome.

While I knew that Linux and Mac versions were in the works, I found out that a PPA repository for daily builds of Linux’s Chromium does exist ! (we’re talking about a native non-using Wine version)

Before explaing how to install it, let me just specify we’re talking about alpha builds, and pretty incomplete ones. Just basic web surfing works.:  Chromium may don’t work, make your loose data or make your loose your cat. Remember if that anything breaks, you’re on your own – install it only if you’re confortable with restoring your system/data. Also keep in mind this disclaimer on the PPA’s launchpad page:

Ubuntu daily builds of the Chromium browser.
The PPA is maintained by a bot, so it contains completely untested builds, mostly useful to track regressions or if you are curious, or just brave.

The package is still a work-in-progress, so is Chromium, please be patient.

FAQ: no native 64bit debs planed for now. The amd64 package is using ia32-libs.

Project page for Chromium in Ubuntu: https://launchpad.net/chromium-project

How to install Chromium on Ubuntu

Open your /etc/apt/sources.list file !

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Add these lines at the very bottom of it:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main

then upload and install:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install chromium-browser

Update: due to some bug Chromium requires the msttcorefonts package to actually show content (otherwise it will just show a blank content area). So, make sure to have multiverse repositories enabled and also type:

sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts

(thanks bjoerns2000 !)
—-

Update ! How to install Chromium on Fedora ? Follow the instructions on this post !

The you’ll find Chromium in your Internet menu. This is what will appear when you first start it.

Chromium for Linux: first start

Aesthetically it comes with a blueish toolbar, that doesn’t follow your theme settings, it looks nicely blending in the screenshots just because of my white theme. This is how Chromium appears using the human theme. Compared with a nautilus window.

screenshot_0021

Getting rid of the debug terminal

By default, the menu entry created by the Chromium package will open the browser inside a debug terminal. That means that you’ll see two windows appearing every time you launch it, the browser itself and a terminal console full of debug/error messages. And if you close the terminal, the browser itself will close. :-(

Getting rid of it is quite simple, and unless you’re a developer you really don’t need it. (also note the Chromium team doesn’t need people to post bug about the project until it gets more mature, so you don’t need it even as a bug reporter)

Right click on the Application menu then select Edit Menus:

Right click on the menu bar then click 'Edit Menus'

Then look for Chromium Web Browser inside the Internet section and change the Type entry from Terminal Application to Application.

Change the "type" into "Application"

No more terminal !

A few screenshots

Because everybody likes’em.

New tab homepageHow a new tab appears
This is how history appearsThis is how history appears
screenshot_006Of course the history is searchable.

Leftovers

At a first test the browser is pretty fast ! I didn’t had the time to test it properly but it seems quite nice for being an alpha. Also I like the sober toolbar, which scaringly looks like some Firefox setup ;-) . I really think Chromium for Linux has a long way. While most features are still missing, seems the most difficult part is done and works.

Install it, test it, and let me know how it feels !  If you write an article about it, be sure to link me or post a comment here with the link of your article, so I can know your opinion about it !

Note: If it’s a while you read my posts, now you know how much right I was.

Before leaving you to play with Chromium, let me repeat one thing (and again and again), as I can’t stress it enough, this is an alpha build. The default homepage you’ll see when you open the browser, will explain the concept even better:

This is a pre-alpha build of Chromium on Linux. It is woefully incomplete.

It’s ‘Chromium’, not ‘Google Chrome’:

Chromium is an open source browser project. Google Chrome is a browser from Google, based on the Chromium project. This is a build of Chromium. No versions of Google Chrome for Linux will exist until Google makes an official release.

Please don’t file bugs:

At this point there are so many gaping holes that finding bugs is not the problem and dealing with them is just a distraction.

Blogging about it is not helpful:

Chromium’s problem is not a lack of media attention, but an excess of it. Coverage encourages people to try it out in this incomplete state which only creates negative first impressions. Also, dealing with misunderstandings/questions etc only distracts the team from the job of improving it.

Likewise, keep in mind that we won’t see your comments if they’re on a random blog somewhere.

Frankly I don’t agree with the last section (otherwise I wouldn’t have post this, of course), but I agree with them that a sober waiting attitude is the right behaviour for everyone willing to test the (any) alpha release (tabs don’t really work, incognito mode doesn’t work, etc edit: well, a little bit)

[via pollycoke.net - warning: italian language]

PS: if after spending your time on this post you have some other to waste, check some other howto. If you plan to waste some other time in the near future, why not subscribe my rss ?