Discussion: Linux support

We have a number of people asking us to provide a Linux version of Scratch Desktop. Scratch Desktop is built using Electron which has built-in support for Linux, so it should be relatively easy to build a Linux version of Scratch Desktop. That said, there are a few concerns we need to resolve first, including:

• Which method of distribution should we use on Linux? Electron supports several, including deb, snap, etc., each of which has varying degrees of support on various different distributions and platforms.
• To what degree can the Scratch team officially support a Linux version of Scratch Desktop?
  • Will a Linux user be able to get help by emailing our support team? If so, which Linux distribution(s) can we support? Which versions of those distributions?
  • Would it be acceptable to us and to our users to say “we can’t support this but we hope it works for you” regarding a Linux build? Maybe it would make sense to call it a “beta” until/unless we are able to provide official support – possibly forever.

[cacarr-pdxweb]

Regarding:

“we can’t support this but we hope it works for you”

If that’s what you need to do to get a Linux version out – perhaps initially, at least – yes, I think that’s acceptable. Linux users are generally accustomed to availing themselves of various unofficial support resources. And calling such a release a “beta” seems reasonable.

[markakis-sch]

Good evening everyone, I am an IT teacher from Greece and until recently I used Scratux for the teaching needs of the primary school I work in, as there is no official Linux version of Scratch Desktop.

Due to the fact that Scratux is based on an older version of Scratch Desktop, a few days ago I followed the steps mentioned by @ezze for version v3.26.0 and created the binary packages (.deb, .rpm, snap etc). The only change I needed to make, was to add the author’s email ([e-mail]) into the package.json in order to generate the .deb package.

The .deb package has been successfully installed and tested on Ubuntu 20.04 (Gnome & Mate) and Linux Mint. The .rpm package has been successfully installed and tested on Fedora 35.

Then I decided to make a fork of the project and upload the generated files online, for anyone who needs the Linux version.

In addition, the .deb package that was produced was added to a repository used by hundreds of primary and secondary schools in Greece, so that it can be used in these schools.

The process of creating the packages is quite simple and does not take much time for it and I believe that the packages should be created and uploaded on the official website of the project at least in the most popular format (.deb, rpm, snap).

Keep up the good work!