Canonical, the company behind the most popular Ubuntu Linux, has partnered with Google to enable Linux desktop app support with the Flutter UI toolkit. Subsequently, Google has released Linux alpha for Flutter.
With this release, developers can now easily install Flutter SDK via Snap (Ubuntu’s universal package manager), develop applications for Linux desktops, and distribute them through Canonical’s app store, Snap Store.
What Is Flutter?
Flutter is a free and open-source platform consisting of both UI Framework and SDK (Software Development Kit) developed by Google. It aims to build beautiful applications for all platforms including mobile, web, and desktop.
The best part of Flutter is that you can build applications from a single codebase with a native interface and app performance. You only need to learn a single language, Dart, and then you can build apps for Android, Web, macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Flutter For Linux
Initially, Google launched Flutter to build only Android and iOS apps from a single codebase. Later, they expanded Flutter to the Web and desktop platform. Following the alpha release for macOS, Google has now brought Flutter support for Linux distributions.
Targeting Linux desktops, Google joins the Canonical team to start first with Ubuntu, which is obviously the most popular and attractive platform for developers. Canonical will also work closely with Google to provide direct input and assistance in bringing support to Ubuntu and making Linux a first-class Flutter platform.
Here’s a demo Flokk desktop app built using Flutter for Linux:
Install Flutter On Ubuntu And Other Linux Distros
With the release of Linux alpha for a flutter, Flutter SDK for Linux is now available to install directly from Snap Store as a snap package. Therefore, before installing Flutter, you first need to install a Snap on your system.
Most Linux distros already come with Snap, for instance, Ubuntu, Zorin OS, Solus, and Xubuntu. If it’s not pre-loaded on your system, follow the instructions from here. Once Snap is set up, run a single command to install Flutter SDK from Snap Store:
sudo snap install flutter --classicNow, you can open your favorite code editor and start developing a Linux application using Flutter. If you don’t know how to start with the Flutter desktop app for Linux, head over to the official documentation.
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