We have previously shown you how to add Facebook messenger to Empathy so you can chat with your Facebook friends from the desktop, but if you are looking for a more “Facebook-like” desktop client for your Linux machine, then linuxmessenger will suit you well.
The app linuxmessenger is a Linux clone of the Facebook Messenger for Windows. It allows you to login to your Facebook account and chat with your friends with a Facebook look-alike interface.
Installation
The installation of limuxmessenger is pretty straightforward, even though it doesn’t come with a PPA.
First download the zip file from its github page. Extract it to your Home folder. You should see a folder like “linuxmessenger-master”.
Next, open a terminal and type the following:
sudo apt-get install python-setuptools python3-setuptools python-qt4-phonon python-qt4-phonon python3-pyqt4.phonon
This will install the dependencies required by the application.
To test if the application is working, “cd” to the folder that you extracted and run the “fbmessenger” file.
cd linuxmessenger-master ./fbmessenger
If everything goes well, the main window will open and you can start to login and chat with your friends.
From here on, you can choose to run the installation and install it as a system app, or just execute the fbmessenger file everything you want to start the desktop client.
To install to the system, just run the command from the linuxmessenger folder:
sudo ./setup.py install
There is also a build file for debian and rpm based system, so you can install it on most distro.
This FBMessenger app comes with support for notifications, popup alert, friends request and chat sound and you can choose to turn them off if you want. The functionalities are pretty basic, but are good enough for a true facebook chat experience.
Personally, I am using Empathy to connect all my different accounts at a single place, but if you are mainly a Facebook messenger user, then this FBmessenger app will be a useful tool for you. The thing that it is lacking now is an app indicator or a system tray applet. With that implemented, this will be perfect.
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Damien Oh
Damien Oh started writing tech articles since 2007 and has over 10 years of experience in the tech industry. He is proficient in Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and iOS, and worked as a part time WordPress Developer. He is currently the owner and Editor-in-Chief of Make Tech Easier.
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