How to Install Light Table 0.8 in Ubuntu 14.04, 15.10

Last updated: December 12, 2015

LightTable IDE

The Light Table IDE has just reached a new stable release after more than one year of development. Now it provides 64-bit only binary for Linux.

Changes in LightTable 0.8.0:

  • CHANGED: We have switched to Electron from NW.js
  • CHANGED: LT’s releases and self-updating processes are completely in the open on Github
  • ADDED: LT can be built from source with provided scripts across supported platforms
  • ADDED: Most of LT’s node libraries are installed as npm dependencies instead of as forked libraries
  • ADDED: Significant documentation. See more below
  • FIX: Major usability issues on >= OSX 10.10
  • CHANGED: 32-bit linux is no longer an official download. Building from source will still be supported
  • FIX: ClojureScript eval for modern versions of ClojureScript
  • More details at github.com/LightTable/LightTable/releases

LightTable 0.8.0

How to Install Light Table 0.8.0 in Ubuntu:

Below steps show you how to install the official binary in Ubuntu. Works on all current Ubuntu releases (64-bit only).

Before getting started, please make a backup if you have a previous release installed.

1. Download the Linux binary from link below:

lighttable-0.8.0-linux.tar.gz

2. Open terminal from Unity Dash, App Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T keys. When it opens, paste below command and hit enter:

gksudo file-roller ~/Downloads/lighttable-0.8.0-linux.tar.gz

open-via-fileroller

Install gksu from Ubuntu Software Center if the command does not work.

3. Previous command opens the downloaded archive via Archive Manager using root user privilege.

When it opens, do:

  • right-click and rename the folder name to LightTable
  • extract it to Computer -> /opt/ directory.

extract-lighttable

Finally you should have the LightTable installed to /opt/ directory:

lighttable-in-opt

4. Create a launcher so you can start LightTable from Unity Dash or App Launcher.

Open terminal and run below command to create & edit a launcher file for LightTable:

gksudo gedit /usr/share/applications/lighttable.desktop

When the file opens via Gedit text editor, paste below and save the file:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Name=Light Table
GenericName=Text Editor
Comment=Open source IDE that modify, from running programs to embed websites and games
Exec=/opt/LightTable/LightTable %F
Terminal=false
MimeType=text/plain;
Icon=/opt/LightTable/resources/app/core/img/lticon.png
Categories=TextEditor;Development;Utility;
StartupNotify=true
Actions=Window;Document;

Name[en_US]=Light Table

[Desktop Action Window]
Name=New Window
Exec=/opt/LightTable/LightTable -n
OnlyShowIn=Unity;

[Desktop Action Document]
Name=New File
Exec=/opt/LightTable/LightTable --command new_file
OnlyShowIn=Unity;

So it looks like:

lighttable-launcher

Finally launch the IDE from Unity Dash or Application Launcher and enjoy!

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