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How to install Calmly Writer on Chromebooks

Chrome OS allows you to enable a Linux environment which makes it possible to install native applications, such as Calmly Writer for Linux. Here is a step-by-step description of how to do it.

Enable Linux on your Chromebook

First, in your system settings, you must turn on Linux (beta).

enable crostini on chromebook

After following the on-screen instructions to configure the Linux environment (just accept the default values), a new terminal window will open.

terminal window

Before installing Calmly Writer it is necessary to run a couple of commands in the terminal, to make sure we have all the necessary packages updated.

    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install -y gnome-keyring
  

The output will be similar to this:

Install dependencies

Download and install Calmly Writer

From the following download buttons:

If you're unsure what kind of CPU your Chromebook is using, run the command dpkg --print-architecture in the Linux terminal.

Architecture

After downloading the package, simply double click on it to install it. After the installation is complete, you will find Calmly Writer inside the "Linux apps" folder.

Display problems

If you experience display problems when you start using Calmly Writer, such as garbled text when typing or deleting characters:

  1. Open Chrome browser
  2. Type chrome://flags in the Google Chrome address bar and press Enter
  3. Enable Crostini GPU Support
Crostini GPU Support

The system must be restarted for the changes to take effect.

Share folders between your Chromebook and the Linux container

Linux applications that are installed on Chrome OS run in a container. That means that these applications do not have direct access to the folders and files on your Chromebook.

To grant Calmly Writer access to any folder on your Chromebook just open the Files application, and right-click on the folder you want to share and select "Share with Linux". For example, it might be a good idea to share the Google Drive folder with Linux.

To access the shared folders from Calmly Writer you must open the "mnt/chromeos" folder. Remember that from the Calmly Writer settings you can define the default save folder.

References

Special thanks to "Learning with VS Code on Chromebooks", on which this document is based.