The Geany IDE is a lightweight and fast text editor that can also be used as an integrated development environment (IDE) for programming. It has enough features to meet most needs without compromising its simplicity, making it perfect if you’re looking between both types of software or want more specialized like Phyton code editors such as Eclipse and other similar applications.
Geany uses the Scintilla font layer to provide the foundation for this software from which SCiTE was created.
In the following tutorial, you will learn how to install Geany on Fedora 36 Linux. The tutorial will use the command line terminal with complete steps using the standard DNF repository from Fedora and the Flatpak hub repository as an alternative.
Table of Contents
Update Fedora
Before proceeding with the tutorial, it is good to ensure your system is up-to-date with all existing packages.
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh
Install Geany – DNF Method
The first method is to install Geany directly from Fedora 36’s repository using the following command.
sudo dnf install geany -y
Install Geany – Flatpak Method
The second option is to use the Flatpak package manager that most often is natively installed on your Fedora workstation. The benefit of Flatpaks is that they can often be ahead of a version or two from Fedora, depending on the release cycle/updates of the software and the Flatpak package maintainer. However, in most cases in Fedora, you would want to install the DNF version above, depending on your preferences.
First, re-install Flatpak if you have removed the package manager previously.
sudo dnf install flatpak -y
Next, you need to enable Flatpack using the following command in your terminal.
sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
For users installing Flatpak for the first time, it is often recommended to reboot your system. Failure to do this can occur with odd issues arising, such as paths not being generated for icons.
reboot
SKIP THE REBOOT IF FLATPAK WAS ALREADY INSTALLED.
Now install using the following flatpak command.
flatpak install flathub org.geany.Geany -y
If the above command does not work and you receive the “error: Unable to load summary from remote flathub: Can’t fetch summary from disabled remote ‘flathub’‘ use the following command.
flatpak remote-modify --enable flathub
This will fix the issue.
How to Launch Geany
Now that you have the software installed, launching can be done in a few ways.
For users with their terminal open, you can launch the application immediately using the following command.
geany
Flatpak users can use the following command to launch from the terminal.
flatpak run org.geany.Geany
However, this is not practical for desktop users, and you would use the following path on your desktop to open with the approach as follows.
Activities > Show Applications > Geany
Example in Show Applications:
Once open, you will arrive at the default landing start screen, where you can begin to use the IDE editor.
Example:
And that is it, and you have successfully installed Geany IDE.
How to Update/Upgrade Geany
Depending on the method of installation used, the following commands can be used to update the software and any system packages. Ideally, the terminal update command should be used even if you have auto-updates in your desktop GUI to ensure everything is updating correctly.
DNF Update Method
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh
Flatpak Update Method
flatpak update
How to Remove (Uninstall) Geany
Use one of the following commands to suit the original installation method for users who no longer require the application.
DNF Remove Method
sudo dnf autoremove geany
The above command will automatically remove any unused dependencies installed from Geany and other leftovers from previous removals. This command should be run often to keep your system from getting too bloated.
Flatpak Remove Method
flatpak uninstall --delete-data org.geany.Geany -y
Next, run the following command for any leftover clean-up.
flatpak remove --unused
Comments and Conclusion
Geany is an excellent choice if you are looking for an IDE that is small, fast, and doubles as a text editor. It has all of the features you need to get started programming, and it is easy to learn and use.