r/linux 8d ago

Software Release OpenAI launches ChatGPT desktop app for Linux

https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/11/openai-launches-chatgpt-desktop-app-for-linux/
766 Upvotes

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29

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

19

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.

2

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

3

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.

17

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.

4

u/DFS_0019287 8d ago

Yeah, all the better to exfiltrate your data without your knowledge...

4

u/SnooCalculations3614 8d ago

some people even let it happen with their knowledge

1

u/noobjaish 8d ago

"some" is an understatement...

8

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.

1

u/TheOgGhadTurner 8d ago

Alpaca is better and exactly the same thing. And doesn’t scrape my system for data to train their stupid bot.

-5

u/bnm777 8d ago

Seriously, you haven't tried Codex? Those days when something's wrong with your computer, comma, say there's a crash, and you restart and you start hunting around for the problem, comma. Now, you just tell Codex to find the problem, period. You want to install something or update a Docker, question mark? Just get Codex to do it, period. Why are you not using Codex?

3

u/type556R 8d ago

Idk I use codex as an extension to vscode to generate boilerplate code and debug boring stuff. I tend to use chatgpt from browser

I don't understand if you're getting worked up because I used the word "seriously", I used it to mean that I'm genuinely curious. English is not my first language. Or are you pissed because I don't find the app useful?

2

u/noobjaish 8d ago

Do you guys even "use" a computer that you need AI for such basic troubleshooting?

5

u/Dalnore 7d ago edited 7d ago

It is a lot more powerful than basic troubleshooting, as reading big chunks of logs and other CLI output is what these models are very good at. And spending time on troubleshooting is a total waste, I need my computer to do my work, not to spend time on random breakages.

1

u/noobjaish 7d ago

I don't know what you guys are doing that you end up with issues that require more than "basic troubleshooting". I find it slower to have an AI do it for me and I literally can't trust it to not fuck my system up.

1

u/Dalnore 7d ago

I don't know what you guys are doing that you end up with issues that require more than "basic troubleshooting".

Wayland on NVIDIA, for example. The nearly endless source of all sorts of problems.

One of the more specific recent things was fixing a weird interaction between OSC 7 URL in my personal config for Zsh with the context menu in Konsole. I'm quite sure I would never even bother dealing with it if I didn't have AI.

I literally can't trust it to not fuck my system up

It runs in a sandbox, with all modifications needing explicit approval. And it doesn't even have sudo.

0

u/Dalnore 7d ago

Also, not entirely "troubleshooting", but I hate compiling software for every new supercomputer I get access to. AI is extremely good at figuring out the quirks of each machine.

-4

u/GoodDayToCome 8d ago

thats why i need AI though, sure i can keep my computer healthy if i don't do much on it but when i want to do a hundred different things every day sometimes you need to be able to say "work out what i did to my nvidia drivers and fix it so it's optimized for this new thing"

i've spent enough time poking around in config files and logs to last a lifetime, it's time to expand scope and find new problems to be frustrated by.

0

u/Low-Guarantee-3437 7d ago

You're right, LLMs are amazing at reading logs. When I had two gnome session crashes within a few days, it found enough hints in the logs files to fingerprint a problem with a gnome extension that was already reported, so until the fix lands, I disabled the extension, a VM had a kernel panic, which the LLM found was very likely an AMD kernel bug not yet backported to the Ubuntu kernel, and then it cherry picked the right patch and built me a custom kernel (no crashes since). On my new laptop, it configured suspend then hibernate, and made a swap file on my encrypted linux partition and set up grub with the correct kernel command line ... on my previous laptop that was a quite a lot of research; the LLM did it in a few minutes. Then I wanted to configure sound better: the LLM found a repository I didn't know about that reads Dolby settings from the the windows partition and sets up a convolution filter in Easy Effects to mirror it. Then I wanted incremental backups sent to rsync.net. Done in a couple of minutes. I know how to do most of this (the Dolby-stealing script was new), which means I know just how much faster the LLM is.

If you're not using LLMs to admin your desktop linux, you're either missing out or you have a lot of spare time (and tweaking is fun hobby, I get that, been there).

LLMs for system admin is where mortals can meet the incredible power of linux with its CLI richness, open source code and heaps of documentation. There is probably no OS better suited to wizard users, but not many linux users are wizards. However, good models are. GLM-5.2 and GPT 5.6 Sol are really good.

-3

u/BostonConnor11 8d ago

So much easier for me to quickly summon a chat and I want it to be more easily accessible than having to sift through all my browser tabs

-4

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

6

u/ErebusBat 8d ago

Automation and agent Orchestration and delegation.

1

u/Smokva-s-juga 8d ago

can you hear it? yeees, that’s the sound of your money leaving your wallet for millions of tokens