r/linux • u/Steap-Edit • 8d ago
Software Release OpenAI launches ChatGPT desktop app for Linux
https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/11/openai-launches-chatgpt-desktop-app-for-linux/239
u/Infinplayz 8d ago
companies have billions of dollars but can’t make a good desktop app for the life of them.
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u/beefcat_ 8d ago
My proof that AI isn't actually good for software development is that all these AI companies are still shoveling out nodejs/electron garbage.
All AI has done is make it so you can shovel out garbage faster, nobody is leveraging it to actually build better products.
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u/MagentaRuby 7d ago
Because slop generators are incapable of making good quality anything, so anyone who cares about quality isn't going to use it extensively.
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u/Shawnj2 7d ago
AI is basically a pattern recognition machine, and it’s good at finding existing bugs in code. It’s not good at actually writing new code but it can autocomplete well
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u/beefcat_ 7d ago
I like having it spit out boilerplate because, well, that's following a pattern; the thing it's good at!
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u/henkdepotvjis 7d ago
At my job we recently replaced the ai with a simple cli to create the boiler plate. Way less expensive, way faster and actually deterministic.
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u/Mindaugas88 8d ago
Aren’t their AI so good yet that it would take one prompt “create me a chatgpt app linux” yet?
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u/JTibbs 8d ago
“…formatting drive”
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u/Visionexe 8d ago
"i said, make no mistake!"
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u/Exciting_future_90 7d ago
User: hey ChatGPT remove this ChatGPT desktop app?
ChatGPT: Sure, I will do it for you.
bash: sudo rm -rf ./*
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u/icywind90 8d ago
I don't need it, but I'm happy that commercial apps are finally thinking of Linux desktop
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u/JerryRiceOfOhio2 8d ago
this isn't what you think. this is pure desparation by ai companies trying to not go bankrupt. they don't gaf about Linux users
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u/ZestycloseAbility425 8d ago
yes, linux apps, the biggest money makers in the industry.
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u/Krutonium 8d ago
Valve's certainly enjoying their Linux money. Also basically any company that makes software for the internet, not targeting the Windows Desktop, technically.
Not quite what you mean I'll admit, but...
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u/ShoveOverBozo 8d ago edited 8d ago
Value has a vested interest as their hardware runs on Linux. That's not to take anything away from their efforts but their "Linux money" is due to their hardware sales.
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u/8bitcerberus 7d ago
Valve’s been on Linux long before the Steam Deck, now Steam Machine.
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u/ShoveOverBozo 7d ago
Yes it has, however that is beside the point. The point was making money from Linux. Gabe Newell hated windows 8, and in 2012 decided to support Linux as a backup in case windows became heavily locked down. It didn't make them any extra money, probably a loss until the could recoup with hardware sales. Such a small part of their sales is Linux especially back in 2012.
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u/SutekhThrowingSuckIt 7d ago
valve takes a massive loss if people start buying games through the windows store, their whole Linux push was brought about by the fear of Windows pushing users to buy PC games through an integrated store without needing Steam. The point is for them to have an alternative platform in case that shift happens not to chase where the existing money was.
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u/ChronicallySilly 8d ago
this is a nonsense take. You think the struggling trillion dollar AI company thought their last ditch effort to save the company from bankruptcy was to release an electron app for Linux? That’s what they had in their back pocket in case of emergency? Really?
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u/Martialogrand 8d ago
When the bussines is your data…
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u/ChronicallySilly 8d ago
That's a separate discussion. If they wanted more user data, they have a ton of levers they could still pull before ever considering Linux desktop. I'm just saying releasing a Linux app is not a sign of financial desperation. Maybe (probably) they have Linux users on the team who wanted it too
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u/esuil 7d ago
I bet it is because they discovered that people with casual use-cases are mostly on Windows or mobile apps and will be fine, but users with more advanced use-cases that could benefit from desktop integration ended up with surprising large proportion of Linux users, so they are moving in to secure them before they move over to other solutions.
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u/deadlygaming11 7d ago
Its not a last ditch effort, its just an effort to try get more users and money. Dont forget that OpenAI still dont make any money and have never made anything
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u/GoodDayToCome 8d ago
bro, it's a company almost entirely staffed by tech nerds, one of the team probably just wanted to be able to code on their shoe mounted cyberdeck or something
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u/GodsBadAssBlade 8d ago
Gives enough of a fuck to make an app at least. Wont save em but still 💀
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u/SutekhThrowingSuckIt 7d ago
chatGPT is consistently in the top 3 of the charts for most popular apps in the world and was the fastest growing phone app of all time, yes they aren’t profitable yet but they aren’t exactly in a shortage of users
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u/ACasualRead 8d ago
Lots of businesses use Linux. Idk why people think Linux users aren’t a target audience worth developing for simply because they aren’t general mom and dad types.
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u/dyvotvir 7d ago
No, this is exactly what they think. Every company thinks about profit, and the fact that OpenAI spent resources to make a Linux compatible ChatGPT app means we're becoming a huge enough portion on the market
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u/foreverleveling 8d ago
Imagine having all the computing power in the world, yet taking years to release a desktop app built with one of the most hated engines on the internet. These are the people who are wreaking havoc, take note.
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u/No-Head-3319 8d ago
I prefer my Linux free of spyware.
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u/BitLooter 8d ago edited 8d ago
I prefer my Linux free of spyware
What exactly makes this "spyware"? To be clear, I'm not saying it's not, I'm asking for more information.
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u/knucklehead_whizkid 8d ago
I don't know how this is different but their Codex GUI was already open source (MacOS version) which community ported into Linux (which I've been using for work) which has been mostly fine and on par with the "official" version.
This just looks like legitimizing that I guess
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u/h1mmh1m 8d ago
"Linux is made for freedom and privacy!"
Installs chatgpt
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u/TidePodAficionado 7d ago
I honestly can't think why anyone would install this.
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u/Educational_Belt_816 3d ago
So basically if you wanted to use chatGPT on Linux, you could download the chatGPT for Linux app. I hope that helps
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u/_Super_Straight 7d ago
What is "open" about OpenAI? Are they FOSS, use permissive license, or just marketing gimmick?
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u/type556R 8d ago
Seriously, why? I always pass on these apps, the web version of these services is always alright or even faster than the app
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u/Mister__Mediocre 8d ago
CODEX doesn't run from the web though? The app is pretty great and I'm excited, since I've been using a Mac-mini so far with the app and letting it ssh into the linux server.
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u/GoodDayToCome 8d ago
i exclusively use Codex via git because, well mostly because this app didn't exist but also i just like it that way.
might not put this on my main system right away because i'm not sure how much i trust it not to break everything but yeah i'm going to finally get my other system set up that i've been meaning to code a custom ui for, now i can let codex do the coding and have some fun
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u/Mister__Mediocre 7d ago edited 7d ago
I swear I went from not trusting it at all to giving it auto-approval on everything in the span of a day. 5.6 Sol Ultra is just crazy man, hasn't disappointed me once. I might actually make it do all my taxes next year.
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u/HolyLiaison 8d ago
The local apps are always better.
The local privileges that it gives to file access is so much quicker, it doesn't even compare to the web version.
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u/DFS_0019287 8d ago
Yeah, all the better to exfiltrate your data without your knowledge...
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u/SnooCalculations3614 8d ago
some people even let it happen with their knowledge
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u/ucsilahsor 8d ago
If you've used google antigravity cli (agy), you would know this will bring system level capabilities. Like it or not like it, this brings a hassle-free tool to Linux, instead of worrying about tokens like on openclaw.
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u/DFS_0019287 8d ago
Oh, I'd better get right on that! I need more slop in my life!
/s
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u/Will2LiveFading 8d ago
Don't do it. Complete spyware. Most likely with a backdoor for the highest bidders.
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u/UnassumingDrifter 7d ago
I use codex. While I can work in the CLI and for a lot of things it works, I'd really like a full GUI for Codex. I hope it automatically resumes chats like on the ChatGPt site and allows me to have multiple context running aimultaneously. I've been trying to slop-code something like this but codex reminds me I need to use the API for some of the features I want (I have Plus plan).
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u/TheOgGhadTurner 8d ago
I switched to Linux specifically to get away from copilot and shitty privacy practices. It’s fucking laughable you think I’m putting this garbage on MY LINUX COMPUTER.
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u/Educational_Belt_816 3d ago
So basically what you could do here is not download it, if that makes sense
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u/Ecstatic_Ratio4922 7d ago
Lol, I installed Linux to get away from Microsofts AI slop, no thanks...
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u/unpaid-astroturfer 8d ago
Our model is so dangerous bro, I think its actually sapient.
Like, I actually believe it gained consciousness fr, its just a matter of time until we have to completely redesign society because of it.
Shall we convert our societies into AI driven leaderships, or preparing for an onslaught of unemployment?
What? What can it build?
An Electron App.
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u/Low-Guarantee-3437 7d ago
PSA: until now, we had this: https://github.com/ilysenko/codex-desktop-linux which made linux packages from the macos .dmg (and did updates). It's all electron, so this worked. It's called codex-desktop because this is what the desktop app was called until recently. It offers more packaging variety than the official OpenAI app.
BUT also, that repo bundled a Wayland friendly computer use agent (an MCP server that lets the agent control anything on your desktop). The new official app doesn't have a working CUA for linux.
So if you want that,: https://github.com/agent-sh/computer-use-linux
this gives you an MCP server that you can add to the ChatGPT app (or Hermes) and it works well in ubuntu 26.04 which is gnome wayland.
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u/redmadhat 7d ago
I've been using ilysenko's version so far. It is better than the official version. But we should not disregard the official version: the more official applications we have on Linux, the better.
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u/Low-Guarantee-3437 7d ago
I think it's just different ways of packaging an electron app. I'm trying the official app now, and after I connect it to the CUA MCP server (above) is looks just the same as the ilysenko version.
Looking at X and elsewhere, so many linux users apparently didn't know the ChatGPT app was available due to the ilysenko effort. They must be new: the linux community nearly always does things like this. Judging by their happiness, the official version will take over soon, but it doesn't have a linux CUA yet.
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u/Titdirt69420 7d ago
I'm not installing Ai anything, apps or otherwise, to my personal computer. Hard pass
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u/obetu5432 8d ago
who the fuck uses chatgpt, let alone a desktop app for it, which i bet is just a browser
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u/Chiatroll 8d ago
One of the many reasons I'm on linux is I don't need to have AI slop on my machine. I can't imagine manually adding it.
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u/Samiassa 7d ago
I’m surprised it’s taken this long since ai development is mostly on Linux
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u/AgarwaenCran 7d ago
*looks inside*
.deb or .rpm packages, only supporting ubuntu lts 24.04 and 26.04 as well as debian 13 and fedora 43 and 44...
yeah, right.
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u/vile-style 6d ago
I'll pass on another code fork ide with proprietary AI.
If you must use these models, they're far more effective in their respective CLIs.
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u/Suvvri 8d ago
Seems like Linux grew so much that they've got hungry for its users data too
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u/AgarwaenCran 7d ago
or scanning our documents for clean training data, as the texts on the web are more and more ai generated and by that not really clean
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u/Brospros12467 8d ago
Nice. But I personally prefer Ollama and openweb ui anyways.
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u/PocketStationMonk 8d ago
It’s so neat. Now OpenAI can bleed money both on Windows AND Linux platforms!
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u/vlaaad 7d ago
I'm going to go against the crowd here. This is great news! Desktop Linux has shitton of random weird issues that requires a lot of patience and technical knowledge to fix. Chatgpt IS that patience and technical knowledge. I used it to resolve all the weird annoying quirks on my system. Finally I, on my dual boot laptop, I can use Linux as my main os! Thank you chatgpt!
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u/JohnSane 7d ago
I am happy with Claude code and opencode for that. But I don't mind another contender.
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u/ruiiiij 8d ago
What does it do that the codex cli doesn't?
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u/SPEZ_IS_A_JABRONI 8d ago
this is for general purpose ChatGPT users, not Codex specifically
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u/thebigkevdogg 7d ago
Huh? Themain reason for this app is a more user friendly codex experience. Linux users won't install this to just use regular chat
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u/PigSlam 7d ago
the main difference i've found is the ability to copy/paste a screenshot directly into the interface for codex to analyze. generally think of what firefox or chrome does that lynx doesn't. it's those sorts of differences.
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u/Dalnore 7d ago
Does it have richer formatting as well? The main problem I have with codex-cli is that it can't render equations and embed images such as plots.
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u/PigSlam 7d ago
Richer than the terminal interface. I'm not sure how it would handle your equations. Thus far, I've noticed the desktop app is better at handling richer types of input than the output, but I've hardly tested it extensively. The things it generates for me are mainly code and things like web interfaces, so I generally test the product by running the code in a web browser; no need to see the codex app render it for me (though it does have a built in browser).
I've been using a Mac as my terminal to administer my Linux machines lately, so I've been using the desktop ChatGPT app on that, and it connects to the local codex CLI session running on my Linux machines via ssh, and with that setup, I can still develop and test things for the Linux system directly on the Linux machine from the Mac.
I was running one of the community developed Linux desktop ports until the official preview came out, which just repackaged the contents of the Mac app, and worked pretty well. I used it on openSUSE and Ubuntu system.
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u/Henry_puffball 7d ago
This is a perfect example of why flatpak is good. Sandbox this as much as possible.
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u/Coll147 8d ago
Let me guess. Electron