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

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

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.

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

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:

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

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