Chrome OS: What about Atom? [A]

Introduction

Atom is a powerful text editor with syntax highlighting for programming languages and spell checking.

It is open-source and available for all platforms like Windows, macOS, and Linux.

The Linux version is straightforward to install and stable to use on 64-bit Chrome OS devices.

Important Notes

Notes for beginners: My posts usually contain some basics that you can understand how to proceed. I partly repeat the basics in other posts, so you don’t have to jump back and forth all the time.

Here is the meaning of the abbreviations after the headings: [E] Everyone [A] Advanced [B] Beginner [P] Professional

If you still miss something, feel free to comment. The community will try to help you! 🙂

Notes for professionals: My posts usually have the form of a knowledge base entry and should be equally suitable for beginners, advanced users, and professionals. Just pick out what you need immediately. You can also find content specifically targeted to professionals. These are marked accordingly with [P] and other finger points.

Do you want to have more professional content on a topic? Add it to the comments 😉

Disclaimer of liability: As always on this blog, I warn you that all changes to your system mentioned in this post are at your own risk! It is theoretically possible that there are system or application errors that could lead to data loss and further problems!

How to download Atom from the manufacturers’ website [A]

If you have already gone to the manufacturer’s site using the link in the introduction, you have probably noticed that the appropriate Linux version is automatically selected as the Debian package:

You can now download this package by clicking “Download .deb.” As the download location, you have to choose a folder below “Linux files.”

Here is an example of the downloaded file in the download folder:

If the folder “Linux files” is not available to you, you can read in this post how to activate and set up the Linux of Chrome OS first.

How to install Atom on Chrome OS [A]

You can now install the downloaded Debian package on your system simply by double-clicking it:

The installation may take a while:

The system will inform you when the installation is complete:

Now you should restart your system and then start the Terminal or another Linux application. That is necessary because the icon of the application is usually not yet found in the launcher here.

How to find and start Atom on Chrome OS [A]

After installation, you can find Atom in the launcher as normal and start it from there:

Now you can set it up any way you like and use it on your Chrome OS device just like under Windows or macOS:

How to use Atom without installation on Chrome OS? [A]

That is also possible thanks to providers who make applications available online on a platform. However, this service will cost you a few bucks per month. A good example is the provider rollApp:

rollApp currently offers you a selection of 340+ applications (as of June 2020), which you can use immediately in your browser with the usual range of functions without installation. One of them is Atom:

If you start the application now with “Launch online” you can use Atom as usual:

You can store your files, e.g., in Google Drive if you link it to your profile in the rollApp settings.

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Words in italics may be registered trademarks or companies! Examples: Google, YouTube, and Android. Or they are technical terms from the IT world, which are described in various locations in the blog.

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