Install and Run Xmind 8 on Ubuntu 16.04 – How to Guide

@Rinzwind is cheating :)

In case you are using the "regular" -official Xmind -version for Linux:

Xmind used to be available as .deb file, but from version 8, there is currently no .deb file available. It can still be run very well on Debian-based systems however.

How to use

The most easy setup is to run it locally, since the application needs to be in a writable directory. The application comes with a setup.sh. Unlike what you would expect, this does not install the application itself, but it installs a few shared libraries it uses, and a few fonts to be used with Xmind.

1. Download the latest Xmind from here (.zip)
2. Unzip xmind-8-linux.zip, move the unzipped folder to any location you like where you have write permissions
3. Open the folder (or cd into it if you are on cli), and run the setup.sh script with sudo, to install some libraries and fonts (simply type sudo and drag the script on to a terminal window and press Enter).

4. Now we will run Xmind for the first time, during which we will be able to create a launcher for Dash and the Unity Launcher:

   • Inside the xmind-8-linux folder, open either the XMind_amd64 or XMind_i386 folder, depending on your architecture, and double click on the Xmindexecutable. The application will start.

   • In the Unity Launcher, the Xmind icon will appear. Right-click on the icon and choose "Add to Dash"

     

   • Log out and back in, and your setup is ready to use, Xmind is available to Dash.

Explanation

To run Xmind, you can create a .desktop file manually, however, you can also let Unity do the job for you, as explained here and here. An Xmind icon is automatically copied to ~/.local/share/icons/xmind.png for local use.

Note

I tried the latest version (8) of Xmind for a few hours, and to be honest, I prefer previous version(s) with less (or no) "advertising", and a more intuitive interface (which is opinion-based of course).

It seems I am not the only one in that, since Xmind makes previous versions available here. These version(s) include .deb installers. These versions run perfectly fine on 16.04.