Chromium, an open source browser project, is mainly behind Google Chrome web browser. It should not be confused with Chromium OS. Both Chromium web browser (or Chromium) and Chromium OS are maintained by Chromium Projects. In this article, we would discuss how to install Chromium in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.
Chromium was first released on September 2, 2008. Its a cross-platform application/web-browser. Earlier, Chromium web browser was available through standard Ubuntu repository as well through snap. But, now it can’t be installed through standard Ubuntu repository. Although a package (chromium-browser) is available in the repository. But, it indirectly installs the application through snap.
Besides there are other ways to install Chromium web browser as well. For the purpose of this article, we would stick with installation done through snap.
Since, its (snap) a prerequisite. Therefore, first we would discuss how to install snap in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. Then, using snap we would install Chromium web browser.
Check whether you have snap installed
Open a terminal and Issue the following –
snap version
It should return snap, series, Ubuntu and kernel versions.
snap 2.47.1+20.04 snapd 2.47.1+20.04
If it doesn’t show the version details for snap and snapd then first install snap. Otherwise, if you already have snap installed then, you may skip Part – A section of the article.
Note: Following operations would require you to have superuser privileges. In case you don’t have one, then contact your System Administrator for assistance.
A – Install snap in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Since the package snapd is already available through standard Ubuntu repository. Therefore, first update the repository to make the latest version of the package available. Hence, issue the following in terminal –
sudo apt update
To install snapd –
sudo apt install snapd
B – Install Chromium in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS through snap
Installing Chromium through snap is pretty straight-forward. Open a terminal and issue the following –
sudo snap install chromium
Lastly, to launch the application through terminal –
chromium
In conclusion, we have discussed how to install Chromium in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS release.
