ChatGPT's Linux app is live, just not on the download page

OpenAI now ships a ChatGPT desktop app for Linux. The release notes dated 14 August say it is available globally in public preview. Preview means unfinished, and OpenAI expects bugs. Finding the thing is the first hurdle.

Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, x64 and ARM64

OpenAI officially supports the desktop editions of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and 26.04 LTS, Debian 13, and Fedora 43 and 44. Ubuntu and Debian get a .deb package, Fedora gets an .rpm, each for x64 and ARM64. Other distributions may work, but they are not tested.

The packages are heavy. The x64 .deb weighs roughly 374 MB, the x64 .rpm 420 MB, and the ARM64 build 345 MB. The server reports 15 August as the last modified date, so the builds are fresh.

Installing also registers a signed OpenAI package repository on your system. Updates then run through your own package manager, apt on Ubuntu and Debian, dnf on Fedora. If you would rather not have OpenAI sitting permanently in your sources list, check it after the install.

Linux is missing from the download page

Here is the odd part. The official ChatGPT download page lists only Mac and Windows, in both the US and the German version, checked on 17 August. The Linux packages live in the documentation at learn.chatgpt.com instead.

The download URLs give away where the app comes from. The path reads codex-app-prod. This is essentially the old Codex app, extended and renamed. OpenAI says as much itself: existing Codex app users can upgrade to ChatGPT.

Wayland only works around the houses

The practical catch sits in window handling. Wayland, the display protocol that replaces the ageing X server, has been the default on Ubuntu and Fedora for a while. OpenAI calls its native Wayland support experimental. Out of the box the app falls back to XWayland, a compatibility layer that keeps older X11 programs running under Wayland.

To run natively you have to quit the app completely and relaunch it from a terminal with --ozone-platform=wayland. After that, floating windows, window positioning, focus and keyboard shortcuts may misbehave. OpenAI admits this in its own docs.

No Computer Use on Linux

One feature is absent altogether. Computer Use, which lets the model drive other applications, exists on macOS and Windows but not in the Linux preview. A later release is meant to add it. On the Mac, OpenAI recently went a step further and logs clicks and keystrokes on request.

Browser actions do work, either in the built-in browser or through a Chrome extension. Codex, OpenAI's coding assistant, operates directly in local repositories. And the app reads local files without making you upload them first.

That last point deserves a second thought. Security researchers showed in early August that AI browsers can be hijacked by content the assistant reads anyway. A preview build with access to your files and your browser is not a tool for production work.