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.
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.
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.
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:
Then look for Chromium Web Browser inside the Internet section and change the Type entry from Terminal Application to Application.
No more terminal !
A few screenshots
Because everybody likes’em.
How a new tab appears
This is how history appears
Of 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 ?
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@Stefano Forenza
How did you make new tabs look like this:
stefanoforenza.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/screenshot_004.png
@bypasser: that was the defaul new tab content. That has been replaced with the standard warning in the last updates.
You can see it typing chrome-ui://newtab/ in the location bar.
@Stefano Forenza
Thanks. I just wonder if there is any way to change about:linux-splash to chrome-ui://newtab/ ?
BTW, what is the default download dir and can it be changed by editing ~/.config//chromium/Default/Preferences?
@bypasser: since Preference editing is not implemented yet, I think you’re right in your guess: only way to change the default behaviour is to edit config files. I didn’t dig about what and how to change configs, and won’t.
.
Feel free to let us all know what you find, though, if you decide to research it yourself
Also keep in mind that new updates *may* reset your precious and hardly worked upon configurations
Well, it seems neither homepage, nor new tab page can be set yet. In windows that can be done with:
“homepage”: “about:blank”,
“homepage_is_newtabpage”: true,
Anyway, download directory can be set and “Home” button can be added to the toolbar:
“download”: {
“default_directory”: “/some/directory”,
“directory_upgrade”: true,
“extensions_to_open”: “”
},
“browser”: {
“show_home_button”: true
},
[...] Thx to [0] Milis Ubuntu-Indonesia [1] Stefanoforenza and bjoerns2000 [2]Issue [...]
apt-key adv –recv-keys –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 4E5E17B5
for the key problem :
sudo apt-key adv –recv-keys –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 0xfbef0d696de1c72ba5a835fe5a9bf3bb4e5e17b5
Installed Chromium today on Jaunty and works great! Amazing speed!
Seems better than Firefox………need to explore more to get the reality.
I just went through the instructions on Mint 7 RC1, and all seemed to go well, but when I click on it in my menu nothing happens. Where might I start to solve this?
Thanks
@Chris: I’d start to invoke the browser from the command line and see what happens.
Well… for full disclosure, my Linux experience is measured in days, that said I’m a quick learn, how do you launch Chromium from the CLI?
@Chris: open a terminal and type “chromium-browser”.
Same problem for me, Mint 7 RC and when I click on it in my menu nothing happens.
nicolas@nicolas-desktop ~ $ chromium-browser
[9433:9433:7099962922:ERROR:/build/buildd/chromium-browser-2.0.180.0~svn20090508r15648/build-tree/src/chrome/common/temp_scaffolding_stubs.cc(140)] Not implemented reached in static bool FirstRun::IsChromeFirstRun()
[9433:9433:7100042264:ERROR:/build/buildd/chromium-browser-2.0.180.0~svn20090508r15648/build-tree/src/chrome/browser/metrics/metrics_service.cc(707)] Not implemented reached in static std::string MetricsService::GenerateClientID()
[9433:9433:7100217827:ERROR:/build/buildd/chromium-browser-2.0.180.0~svn20090508r15648/build-tree/src/chrome/browser/tab_contents/tab_contents_view_gtk.cc(80)] Not implemented reached in virtual void TabContentsViewGtk::CreateView()
[9433:9433:7100269109:ERROR:/build/buildd/chromium-browser-2.0.180.0~svn20090508r15648/build-tree/src/chrome/browser/renderer_host/render_widget_host_view_gtk.cc(205)] Not implemented reached in virtual void RenderWidgetHostViewGtk::DidBecomeSelected()
[9433:9433:7100269168:ERROR:/build/buildd/chromium-browser-2.0.180.0~svn20090508r15648/build-tree/src/chrome/browser/tab_contents/tab_contents_view_gtk.cc(195)] Not implemented reached in virtual void TabContentsViewGtk::RestoreFocus() Need to restore the focus position on this page.
[9433:9433:7100284989:ERROR:/build/buildd/chromium-browser-2.0.180.0~svn20090508r15648/build-tree/src/chrome/common/temp_scaffolding_stubs.cc(140)] Not implemented reached in static bool FirstRun::IsChromeFirstRun()
[9433:9434:7100285057:ERROR:/build/buildd/chromium-browser-2.0.180.0~svn20090508r15648/build-tree/src/chrome/common/temp_scaffolding_stubs.cc(131)] Not implemented reached in static bool ShellIntegration::IsDefaultBrowser()
[9433:9433:7100421919:ERROR:/build/buildd/chromium-browser-2.0.180.0~svn20090508r15648/build-tree/src/chrome/browser/renderer_host/render_widget_host_view_gtk.cc(366)] Not implemented reached in void RenderWidgetHostViewGtk::Paint(const gfx::Rect&)
[9433:9433:7100792580:ERROR:/build/buildd/chromium-browser-2.0.180.0~svn20090508r15648/build-tree/src/chrome/browser/gtk/location_bar_view_gtk.cc(189)] Not implemented reached in virtual void LocationBarViewGtk::UpdatePageActions()
Most probable cause for not starting is that currently the browser can not be run with older CPUs which do not support SSE2 instructions, see -> code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=9007
@Joyrock
The output you posted doesn’t show that the browser crashed, just some usual errors (it’s PRE-ALPHA you know…) and it’s better to use pastebin.com for stuff like that.
I have the same problem, only the error message is slightly shorter… :
[5057:5057:9505484170:ERROR:/build/buildd/chromium-browser-3.0.182.0~svn20090523r16844/build-tree/src/chrome/common/temp_scaffolding_stubs.h(69)] Not implemented reached in static bool GoogleUpdateSettings::GetLanguage(std::wstring*)
[5057:5057:9505484638:ERROR:/build/buildd/chromium-browser-3.0.182.0~svn20090523r16844/build-tree/src/chrome/common/temp_scaffolding_stubs.h(57)] Not implemented reached in static bool GoogleUpdateSettings::GetCollectStatsConsent()
I’m posting just in case…
If anyone had an idea, I’d be grateful.
Thanks for these clear instructions.
I have referenced your site on my blog in Welsh about Ubuntu.
http://ubuntucymraeg.nireblog.com/post/2009/06/26/google-chromium
thank you for install explain …
Appreciate this PPA. It looks like a change may be required. After updating today, I get
fdz@dell-jaunty:~$ chromium-browser &
[1] 4597
fdz@dell-jaunty:~$ [4597:4597:2026613381:FATAL:/build/buildd/chromium-browser-3.0.193.0~svn20090708r20142/build-tree/src/chrome/browser/zygote_host_linux.cc(63)] The SUID sandbox helper binary was found, but is not configured correctly. Rather than run without sandboxing I’m aborting now. You need to make sure that /usr/lib/chromium-browser/chromium-browser-sandbox is mode 4755 and that /var/run/chrome-sandbox exists
— some info –
LinuxSUIDSandbox
With r20110, Chromium on Linux can now sandbox its renderers using a SUID helper binary. This is one of several sandboxing solutions which we envision supporting.
(See http://dev.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/sandbox for general information on Chromium sandboxing.)
The SUID helper binary is called ‘chrome_sandbox’ and you must build it separately from the main ‘chrome’ target. When spawning the zygote process (LinuxZygote), Chromium will check for a binary this binary at /opt/google/chrome/chrome-sandbox. You probably want to change this in the code (chrome/browser/zygote_host_linux.cc). Suggestions about how to better handle this are welcome (A GYP variable?).
Note: you have to change the underscore from the build target into a hyphen. This is because SCons doesn’t support underscores in target names
In order for the sandbox to be used, the following conditions must be met:
* The sandbox binary must be executable by the Chromium process.
* It must be SUID and executable by other.
* /var/run/chrome-sandbox must exist.
…
Source — http://code.google.com/p/chromium/wiki/LinuxSUIDSandbox
Thanks for those instructions. Sadly network options, in particular proxy settings are not implemented yet. I guess I’ll have to wait as this Intrepid machine is behind a proxy.
@greenpossum
If you are using gnome, you can adjust your proxy settings in gnome-network-preferences and chromium will connnect through the proxy specified there.
Anyone notice what appears to be recent regressions, particularly in rendering?
I’m in the habit of downloading all updates to Chromium, as they are made available. I was using it for most of my browsing, except for a couple of sites where rendering was an issue.
It has been fascinating to watch the browser evolve. While there have always been the expected alpha-level issues, I thought that progress was remarkably smooth. Last week’s updates were an exception. I noticed occasional startup and functionality issues that appeared to be regressions. Usually fixed the nest day.
However, I’ve found that rendering has been an ongoing issue. Sites that used to render smoothly are unusable. I give each day’s update a try and will continue to use it until I hit a significant number of ill-rendered sites. Then I switch back to Firefox.
Not a gripe; I’m just surprised to see the regressions, given the smooth progress prior to last week. Maybe it is just due to vacations…
@dougz
Could you post links to the site which have problems? Haven’t noticed any rendering issues with the sites I usually visit.
BTW, FLASH plugin now works with chromium
Just copy it to /usr/lib/chromium-browser/plugins . And flashblock that works well has been posted by Ciantic here -> chromespot.com/chrome-plugin-discussion/545-chrome-flashblock-2.html (the one by vhanla doesn’t block most of them).
gnome-network-preferences: Is there a KDE equivalent? I’m using Kubuntu.
I’ve already tried:
http_proxy=http://blahblah:8080/ chromium-browser
and it actually displayed that it didn’t understand that environment variable setting instead of ignoring it.
@tomas
I’m having trouble reproducing the problem. I may have to get back to you on this.
Here’s what I noticed yesterday and today. Start Ubuntu Update Manager and get Chromium updates. Start Chromium and go to google reader and gmail. Browse through my mail & RSS feeds.
I remember having problems following feed links from the tuxmachines.org RSS feed. Either the tuxmachines.org summary page wouldn’t render or the “read more” tuxmachines.org target page wouldn’t render. I noticed the same problem with some political sites, but can’t remember which. All pages were OK with FF 3.1 and 3.5.
I just started Chromium again (same build as earlier today), went to google reader, found no new linux news, selected “all items” to use old feeds, and tried to reproduce the problem. Everything worked fine. Went to tuxmachines.org and tried a bunch of links and everything worked fine. Don’t understand.
FWIW — Chromium 3.0.194.0 (0) updated 06:30 EDT running on Ubuntu Jaunty 9.04, all updates applied.
@tomas
Render failure — http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=4496
linked from — http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/38107
@tomas
Another render failure –
http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/07/13/1336235/Strong-Passwords-Not-as-Good-as-You-Think?from=rss
Slashdot and tuxmachines used to render fine for me.
@dougz
Latest daily build here. Don’t see anything wrong in zdnet and tuxmachines (maybe because I use adsweep or maybe you have some problems with fonts?); slashdot at first renders a bit incorrectly but after scrolling a bit down everything’s back to normal. Maybe you should report the issue with slashdot?
@greenpossum
Never liked KDE for being so cluttered. Anyway, don’t know where gnome-network-preferences stores its settings and the best thing I can think of now is to install gnome-control-center if you are not afraid of all the dependences it will pull.
@tomas
Installed the latest Chromium daily build 15 minutes ago. Tried the problem pages and they rendered perfectly. Even tried reboot and doing my normal morning startup routines and pages were fine.
I don’t use adsweep. I’m running the base fonts plus a few TT fonts.
Given that I had minimal rendering problems prior to **about** 7 July and the same sites had always rendered fine before, I’m betting on a regression that got fixed in the most recent build.
Now to try installing flash!
Found where KDE configures the proxy, Computer > System Settings > Network Settings, but no use.
I think I’ll just wait for them to catch up with the other browsers. Chromium’s cute but I have work to do.
@Tomas
New version is much better, but still get some rendering failures. Happens with a number of sites, but is somewhat intermittent. E.g., http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/38130
The consistent failure mode is that graphical elements like filled boxes, jpg/gifs get displayed, but text does not. Graphical google ads get displayed, complete with working link. Google ad boxes fail to display ad text or links.
I’m not going to report this because automated testing should be catching it, particularly given the loss of advertising content.
It’s only an alpha…
@dougz
Hmmm… Latest daily build and still can’t see anything wrong with tuxmachines. Tried with adsweep and without – everything seems to be ok, google text ads work too when not using adsweep. Maybe you should try to install msttcorefonts?
@Tomas
msttcorefonts 2.6 & ttf-mscorefonts-installer 2.6 are installed.
As I said, it was very intermittent. I browsed 10+ tuxmachines.org pages successfully today before I got a fail. At that point, the fail page was a consistent fail. Same pattern on another site I visit regularly. Also got a fail on a site I visited for the first time. At that point, I’m pretty much done with Chromium for the day. I’ll try again tomorrow.
Rendering used to be better; never got tuxmachines.org fails. It will get fixed. It’s alpha and bugs are to be expected.
Just for info: to use netscape plugins now enable-plugins command line switch is required:
chromium-browser –enable-plugins
The list of currently known plugin bugs can be found here -> http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/list?can=2&q=os:linux+label:plugins
Credit where due — used Chromium heavily all day with ***zero*** rendering failures.
Only changes on my system today were the daily updates of Chromium and Firefox 3.5 Shiretoko (including Ubuntu Firefox branding and xulrunner)
chromium-browser
/usr/lib/chromium-browser/chromium-browser: error while loading shared libraries: libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
@ethnopunk
Do you have libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0 in /usr/lib? If not, reinstall libgtk2.0-0 .
More credit where due. All of the pages that *never* rendered for me have been working since my last post. Yahoo!, latimes, etc.
Blast from the past — “Aw, Snap!” error today on page http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2009/07/kindle_gets_company_with_barne.html?wprss=fasterforward
That page is fine on Firefox 3.5. Chromium fails on page reload.
One hundred steps forward, one back. Not bad.
These sources also work now already:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu karmic main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu karmic main
Stefano, your instructions worked like a champ for Ubuntu 9.10. Chromium is running perfectly… Thank you…
sudo apt-key adv –recv-keys –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 5A9BF3BB4E5E17B5