Chrome browser on Ubuntu (Jaunty/9.04)

Everyone can now try the chrome web browser on Ubuntu/Linux thanks to the chromium opensource project. The browser is in beta state (and is not even recognized by Yahoo! mail) so it could be a secondary browser at best (for now). It is a really fast and functional browser, and holds great promise.

It is available only in the 32bit flavour.. so for folks running 64bit Ubuntu, it automatically uses the 32 bit libraries. Of course, you can directly install the deb package on your system.. but then you will need to do it everytime there is an update (and trust me, it happens quite regularly). If you add the daily builds url to the sources list on your computer, it takes the guesswork out of updating and uninstalling. Here’s how you can do that

1. Click on “System”=>”Administration”=>”Software Sources”. Then click on the “Third party software” tab.. Enter the following:

and hit the OK button. Your “sources” should now look like :

2. The next step is to get the daily build public key.. Go to this URL:
http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0×5A9BF3BB4E5E17B5

Then copy and paste everything except the header (including –begin PGP— and –end pgp–) into a text editor and save it on your desktop.
Now, reopen the “Software Sources” dialog box, and click on the “Authentication” Tab. Click on the “Import Key file” button at the bottom and open the file containing the public key you just saved on your desktop.

Close when you are done. It will ask you to reload your sources, go ahead and accept.

3. Open “Synaptic package manager” from “System”=>”Administration”=>”Synaptic..”. On the “Quick search” box, type in “Chromium”.. From the list below, select “Chromium browser” (If you are on 64 bit, it will automatically add the 32 bit libraries). Hit the “Apply” button.

Voila.. Chromium gets installed on your system! You can access it from “Applications”=>”Internet”->”Chromium”