Vivaldi is a freeware, cross-platform web browser developed by Vivaldi Technologies. It had grown from the downfall of Opera with many disgruntled when it changed from the Presto layout engine to a Chromium-based browser. This platform angered traditional Opera users. Since then, Vivaldi has become one of the most popular alternative Internet Browsers amongst the big three Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
Vivaldi promotes itself as a leading browser with faster navigation, clever bookmarking, more intelligent browsing, extensive tab management, and a more visual approach.
In the following tutorial, you will learn how to install Vivaldi Browser on Linux Mint.
Prerequisites
- Recommended OS: Linux Mint 20 or higher.
- User account: A user account with sudo or root access.
Update Operating System
Update your Linux Mint operating system to make sure all existing packages are up to date:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -yThe tutorial will be using the sudo command and assuming you have sudo status. To verify sudo status on your account:
sudo whoamiExample output showing sudo status:
[joshua@linuxmint ~]$ sudo whoami
rootIf you have not set up a sudo user account and would like to, visit our tutorial on How to Add a User to Sudoers on Linux Mint.
To use the root account, use the following command with the root password to log in.
suInstall Required Packages
To successfully install Vivaldi, you will need to install the following packages; run this command if you are unsure; it will not harm your system.
sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common wget -yThese are pretty generic dependencies that may be already installed. Run the command regardless if unsure, as many other installations will require these on your system.
Import Vivaldi GPG Key and Repository
Import GPG Key
In the first step, you will need to download the GPG key.
wget -qO- https://repo.vivaldi.com/archive/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -Example terminal output:
OKImport and Add the Repository
Next, add the repo as follows:
sudo add-apt-repository 'deb https://repo.vivaldi.com/archive/deb/ stable main'Install Vivaldi Browser
Now that you have imported the repository, you can now be installed Vivaldi using the following.
First, update your repository list to reflect the new repository changes:
sudo apt updateNow install the software with the following command:
sudo apt install vivaldi-stableExample output:
Type “Y”, then press the “ENTER KEY” to proceed and complete the installation.
Confirm the version and build of the Vivaldi Browser version installed on your operating system using the following command:
vivaldi --versionExample output:
Vivaldi 4.3.2439.44 stableHow to Launch Vivaldi Browser
With the installation complete, you can run Vivaldi in a few different ways.
First, while you are in your terminal, you can use the following command:
vivaldiAlternatively, run the Vivaldi & command in the background to free up the terminal:
vivaldi &However, this isn’t practical, and you would use the following path on your desktop to open with the path: Taskbar > Internet > Vivaldi. If you cannot find it, use the search function in the Show Applications menu if you have many applications installed.
Example:
The first time you open Vivaldi, you will be greeted by the following landing page to customize your browser.
You will have a series of about five pages of quick setting options to customize your Vivaldi experience. Overall, it should take 1 to 5 minutes at most, depending on how much customizing you would like to do.
Once done, you will see the final landing page, and you are good to go browsing.
Congratulations, you have successfully installed Vivaldi Browser on your Linux Mint desktop.
How to Update Vivaldi Browser
To update, run the APT update command in your terminal as you would check your entire system for any updates.
sudo apt updateIf one is available, use the upgrade option:
sudo apt upgradeHow to Remove (Uninstall) Vivaldi Browser
To remove the Vivaldi Browser, execute the following terminal command:
sudo apt-get purge --autoremove vivaldi-stableExample output:
Type “Y,” then press the “ENTER KEY” to proceed with the removal.
Note that this will remove any unused dependencies originally installed with Vivaldi Browser on your Linux Mint system.
Next, you will need to remove the repositories from your system. This time you are adding the “r” flag, which instructs to remove the entry. This command is the same as adding the repository as you did initially.
To remove the stable repository:
sudo add-apt-repository -r "deb [arch=i386,amd64] deb https://repo.vivaldi.com/archive/deb/ stable main"
Once the repositories are done, you can remove the GPG key that was added to your key list to go even further.
This can be done first by listing the keys on your system.
sudo apt-key listExample output:
To find the key for Vivaldi Browser from the above list, look at the numbers and letters in a long sequence. On the screen, this was “790D 2E26 8F67 FE01 3B32 76D3 793F EB8B B697 35B2″. To remove a GPG key from your system, note the last 8 characters of the key, then run the following command to delete the key.
sudo apt-key del key-IDExample:
sudo apt-key del B69735B2Note, make sure that there are no spaces between the codes numbers and letters.
Example output if successful:
OKAs you may have noticed, you may have multiple GPG keys. Use the same process to delete the keys. And that is it, and you have entirely removed Vivaldi Browser from your Linux Mint system.
Comments and Conclusion
You have learned how to import the Vivaldi repository in the tutorial and install the web browser.
Overall, Vivaldi is a pretty good alternative to Firefox and Google Chrome, and its main rival is undoubtedly Brave Browser. However, Vivaldi comes with more features, and Brave is focused more on the privacy of its users. A new feature for Vivaldi is the tab management feature; by selecting multiple tabs, you can put them in a “stack,” which saves valuable real estate on the tab bar. Once in a stack, the tabs can be “tiled,” meaning the browser window is divided between the tabs, letting you work with several web pages simultaneously.
