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Table of Contents
Google Chrome Browser in Slackware
According to Google, the chrome browser is a web browser built for speed, simplicity, and security. Note that this package has little to do with chromium as this is a pre-compiled package by Google, instead of a package that a user can compile locally from the open-source project.
Google Chrome is not installed as a default application in Slackware but it is provided instead as an installation-ready application through a Slackbuild, created by Patrick Volkerding that is available in the extra folder of the Slackware folder tree. At the time of this writing, the Google Chrome Slackbuild is available in the extra directory of Slackware13.37, and 14.
Stable Google Chrome Release Installation on Slackware 14
In the Slackware directory tree, the google-chrome folder inside the extra directory contains a README file that provides simple instructions to follow for this installation. Using a Slackware mirror, the Google Chrome Slackbuild folder can be easily downloaded online. The Slackbuild folder is also available on Slackware installation CDs/DVD (version 13.37 and 14.0 at the time of this writing), which can be purchased at the official Slackware Store (consider a subscription).
The following simple steps illustrate the installation of a Stable release of Google Chrome in Slackware 14:
1. Visit the official Google Chrome download page.
2. Click the download button, and select either:
- 32 bit .deb (for Debian/Ubuntu).
- Or 64 bit .deb (for Debian/Ubuntu).
3. Select a download package that is appropriate for your architecture:
- 32 bit .deb (for Debian/Ubuntu) for a 32-bit version of Slackware.
- 64 bit .deb (for Debian/Ubuntu) for a 64-bit version of Slackware.
4. Read and accept the license terms.
5. Download the .deb package.
6. Copy the extra/google-chrome Slackbuild folder into a temporary location (/tmp for example).
7. Move or copy the downloaded .deb package (google-chrome-stable_current_i386.deb or google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb) package in the same folder (/tmp/google-chrome).
8. In a terminal log in as root:
su -
9. Change into the temporary directory:
cd /tmp/google-chrome
10. Run google-chrome.SlackBuild script as root:
sh google-chrome.SlackBuild
11. At completion of the SlackBuild execution, a message similar to the following one will appear:
Slackware package /tmp/google-chrome-21.0.1180.81-i386-1.txz created.
7. Install the newly created package as root. It will be located in the /tmp directory:
upgradepkg --install-new /tmp/google-chrome-21.0.1180.81-i386-1.txz
upgradepkg --install-new /tmp/google-chrome/google-chrome-pam-solibs-1.1.3-i486-1.txz
If you need real PAM (to compile Chromium for example), you can find it in extra/source/pam/ from the Slackware directory tree.
Beta and Unstable Google Chrome Release Installation on Slackware 14
Installing Beta or Unstable release of Google chrome follows the same steps as installing the Stable release installation with minor tweaks:
- Download a Beta or Unstable release of Google Chrome.
- In step 10, execute the Slackbuild script as follow:
RELEASE=beta sh google-chrome.SlackBuild
for a Beta release.
RELEASE=unstable sh google-chrome.SlackBuild
for an Unstable release.