In the quest of finding a desktop client for Instagram for Ubuntu, I tried installing many applications on my system. Most do not work, and a few would only let me watch my Instagram account and not let me upload photos. Ramme, an unofficial desktop client for Instagram, available on Github, finally offered all the features I was looking for. It lets you upload photos, updates automatically, lets you configure a dark theme, is empowered with keyboard shortcuts, and much more. In this article, we will describe two ways for you to install the Ramme application on your Ubuntu:
- Through the Ubuntu UI
- Though the Command Line application-the Terminal
Both these methods will use the Ramme .deb package available on Github, though the mode of downloading and installation will be different.
I have run the commands and procedures mentioned in this article on a Ubuntu 18.04 LTS system but it should work on newer Ubuntu versions as well.
Install Ramme through the UI
For a person who does not want to open the Command Line much, installing a software package through the UI is fairly simple. For Ramme we will be downloading the official .deb package from the Github and then install it through Ubuntu Software Install/Software Manager.
You can download the official .deb installation package from the following link:
https://github.com/terkelg/ramme/releases
Here you will see a lot of packages. You will be downloading the .deb package, depending on whether you have 64-bit or 32-bit flavor of Ubuntu.
You can use the lscpu command in order to check your flavor of Linux. It fetches details from the files sysfs and /proc/cpuinfo:
$ lscpu
This command will display the following output:
The CPU op-mode(s) entry tells you about the flavor of Ubuntu you are running on your system; 32-bit means you are running a 32-bit Linux OS, 32-bit, 64-bit signifies that you are running a 64-bit OS.
Since mine is a 64-bit system, I will click on the 64 bit .deb package for Ramme. The following dialog will appear:
Save the file on your system; it will be saved to the Downloads folder by default. Then, open the Downloads folder where you will be able to see the Ramme .deb package.
Right-click on the package and select the ‘Open With Software Install’ option from the menu. This will open the following installer:
Click the Install button on the above window. The following authentication dialog will display for you to provide the authentication details for a sudo user as only an authorized user can install software on Ubuntu.
Enter your password and click the Authenticate button. After that, the installation process will begin, displaying a progress bar as follows.
Ramme will then be installed on your system and you will get the following message:
Note: If you want to remove Ramme installed through this method, you can uninstall it through the Terminal application. Open the Terminal application through the Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut and then use the following command as sudo to uninstall Ramme:
$ sudo apt-get remove ramme
Install Ramme through the Command line
If you prefer the command line over the graphical interface, follow these steps in order to install Ramme through the Ubuntu Terminal.
First, enter the following command as root in order to update your system’s repository index with that on the internet:
$ sudo apt-get update
Please note that only an authorized user can add, remove and configure software on Ubuntu.
Let us now install the gdebi utility for .deb package installation
$ sudo apt install wget gdebi-core
The system might ask you the password for sudo and also provide you with a Y/n option to continue the installation. Enter Y and then hit enter; the mentioned package will be installed on your system. The process may, however, take some time depending on your Internet speed.
Now, download the Ramme .deb installation package from the Github through the following wget command:
$ wget https://github.com/terkelg/ramme/releases/download/v3.2.5/Ramme_3.2.5_amd64.deb
Tip: Instead of typing the command, you can copy it from here and paste in the Terminal by using the Ctrl+Shift+V, or by using the Paste option from the right-click menu.
The package will be downloaded to the current folder; in my case-the current user’s /home folder.
Finally, run the gdebi command as follows in order to install the downloaded Ramme .deb package:
$ sudo gdebi Ramme_3.2.5_amd64.deb
Ramme will now be installed on your system after you enter Y.
Note: If you want to remove Ramme installed through this method, you can uninstall it through the Terminal application. Use the following command as sudo to uninstall Ramme:
$ sudo apt-get remove ramme
Upload Photos to Instagram via Ramme
In order to upload photos on your Instagram via Ramme, you first need to launch Ramme on your Ubuntu. You can do so through the Ubuntu Application Launcher search as follows, or directly through the applications listing:
Alternatively, you can use the following command in the Terminal to launch Ramme.
$ ramme
When you open the application for the first time, it will ask you to login with your Instagram ID, an email or phone number. Log in and you will see your Instagram account in the following window:
The interface is pretty much the same as you use on your smartphone, and so is the process for uploading photos. After trying so many applications to upload photos from my Ubuntu desktop, I wanted to make sure that Ramme actually works. So I clicked on the plus icon and browsed for a photo of my Ubuntu desktop.
Then I clicked next and the application let me add a caption to my photo:
On clicking share, the photo was actually uploaded to my Instagram account. I verified the presence of the post through my smartphone and was pleased to know that a workable desktop client for Instagram, even though unofficial, is available for my Ubuntu.
