Flutter on Linux: desktop apps

To build Linux desktop programs with Flutter, you need a C++ compiler, build tools and the GTK library. You don't need them to run in a browser or on Android — only for Linux programs.

Contents:

1. Build packages
2. Checking: flutter doctor
3. Running and building
4. What the user's computer needs
5. Summary

1. Build packages

Flutter needs the clang , cmake , ninja-build , pkg-config , libgtk-3-dev and libstdc++-12-dev packages. On Ubuntu and Debian they install with one command. Commands are typed in Terminal — how to open it and paste a command is on the Installing Git page:

sudo apt-get update -y && sudo apt-get upgrade -y && sudo apt-get install -y clang cmake ninja-build pkg-config libgtk-3-dev libstdc++-12-dev

sudo asks for your account password; the characters don't show as you type. The libstdc++-12-dev package exists in Ubuntu 22.04 and later and in Debian 12 and later; Ubuntu 20.04 and Debian 11 don't have it, and the command stops with “Unable to locate package”.

On other distros, install the same packages with your package manager — the Flutter documentation has no ready commands for them.

2. Checking: flutter doctor

flutter doctor

The Linux toolchain - develop for Linux desktop section should have a checkmark. If something is missing, doctor names the package, for example:

clang++ is required for Linux development.
It is likely available from your distribution (e.g.: apt install clang), or can be downloaded from https://releases.llvm.org/

It reports CMake, ninja, pkg-config and the GTK libraries the same way. Without pkg-config , doctor can't check GTK: if it only mentions pkg-config, run flutter doctor again after installing it.

The hint “Unable to access driver information using 'eglinfo'” is not an error: doctor couldn't read the graphics driver information. The mesa-utils package removes it:

sudo apt-get install mesa-utils

Another check is flutter devices : the list should include a line with the linux platform.

3. Running and building

Run the project as a Linux program — in the project folder (we create the first project in Lesson 1):

flutter run -d linux

Build the finished program:

flutter build linux

The program appears in your project's build/linux/x64/release/bundle/ folder (on an Arm64 computer — build/linux/arm64/release/bundle/ ): next to the executable are a lib folder with the .so libraries it needs and a data folder with the app's data. Move the program as the whole bundle folder.

4. What the user's computer needs

For the built program to run on someone else's computer, that computer needs the system libraries it uses. According to the Flutter documentation, this command may be enough:

sudo apt-get install libgtk-3-0 libblkid1 liblzma5

5. Summary

• Linux programs need clang , cmake , ninja-build , pkg-config , libgtk-3-dev , libstdc++-12-dev .
• Check with flutter doctor (the Linux toolchain section) and flutter devices (the linux line).
• flutter run -d linux runs, flutter build linux builds the program into build/linux/x64/release/bundle/ .

Installing Flutter itself is in Lesson 0 . Running on Android — Setting up Android for Flutter . We create the first project in Lesson 1 .