A Comprehensive Guide to Installing Sublime Text on Your Chromebook

Sublime Text has become synonymous with powerful text editing for programming and markup languages, earning its spot as one of the foremost tools in the developer community. If you’re a Chromebook user eager to harness the capabilities of Sublime Text, this guide will provide you with the necessary steps to get it operational on your device.

Activating Linux on Chrome OS: Your First Step

Before diving into the installation of Sublime Text, you need to enable Linux on your Chromebook. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Open Settings: Click on the clock icon in your Chromebook’s taskbar. This action will bring up a menu, where you should select the "gear" icon to access Settings.

2. Navigate to Advanced Options: Scroll down and find the "Advanced" section. Click on it, then look for "Developers." Here, you’ll see an option for “Linux developer environment.”

3. Enable Linux: Select “Turn on” to initiate the installation of a Debian Linux container, which will also prompt the installation of a terminal on your Chromebook.

Once the process is complete, a terminal app named "Penguin" will automatically launch, providing you terminal access to the Debian environment.

Updating Your Linux Environment

To ensure optimal performance of installed applications, start by updating your Linux container. In the terminal, enter the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

After the updates have been applied, you’re ready to install Linux applications, including Sublime Text.

Installing Sublime Text on Chrome OS: Two Methods Explained

Sublime Text can be installed on Chrome OS using either a DEB package or a Flatpak package. This guide will walk you through both methods.

Method 1: Installing Sublime Text via DEB Package

1. Access the Terminal: Open the terminal app on your Chromebook by searching for "Terminal" in the app menu and selecting "Penguin."

2. Download the DEB Package: Execute the following command in the terminal to download the latest version of the Sublime Text DEB package:

   wget https://download.sublimetext.com/sublime-text_build-4152_amd64.deb

3. Install the Package: To install Sublime Text, run this command:

   sudo apt install ./sublime-text_build-4152_amd64.deb

4. Enable Automatic Updates: To ensure you receive updates for Sublime Text in the future, you must add the repository. Start by downloading the GPG key:

   wget -qO - https://download.sublimetext.com/sublimehq-pub.gpg | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/sublimehq-archive.gpg > /dev/null

5. Add the Repository: Run the following command to include the Sublime Text repository:

   echo "deb https://download.sublimetext.com/ apt/stable/" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sublime-text.list

6. Install APT Transport for HTTPS: Next, install the necessary package for HTTPS repositories:

   sudo apt install apt-transport-https

7. Final App Update: Conclude the process by updating the package list again:

   sudo apt update

Method 2: Installing Sublime Text via Flatpak

If you prefer an easier way to manage updates, using Flatpak could be the solution for you. Here’s how:

1. Open the Terminal: Access your Chromebook’s terminal app.

2. Install Flatpak: Use the following command to set up Flatpak on your Linux environment:

   sudo apt install flatpak

3. Configure Flathub: Flathub is the app store for Flatpak applications. Enabling it will facilitate the installation of various applications, including Sublime Text:

   flatpak --user remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

4. Install Sublime Text: With Flathub configured, you can now install Sublime Text using this command:

   flatpak install flathub com.sublimetext.three

Accessing Sublime Text

Once you have completed the installation using either method, Sublime Text will be accessible in the "Linux apps" folder found in your Chromebook’s app menu.

Conclusion

With these straightforward steps, you can equip your Chromebook with Sublime Text, opening up a robust platform for programming and development. Whether you choose to install via DEB or Flatpak, you’ll benefit from the enhanced functionality this powerful text editor offers, ensuring a smooth and productive coding experience on your device.