How To Run an Application in Linux
Linux distribution always has several solutions to perform one operation. You will find multiple choices and can select any of them.
To run an application/program in Linux distributions can be done using command-line and GUI as well. These are the tricks we will cover in this tutorial to run a program:
- Running a program using terminal
- Running a program using run command
- Running a program using keyboard shortcut
- Running a program using application launcher
- Running a program using application menu
(I am using Linux Mint 21 to explain these methods)
How To Run a Program Using Terminal in Linux
Most beginners might think that launching an application through GUI is easy. But when you use the command-line, it looks even easier.
To open the application through command-line, open the terminal and type the program name:
How To Run Program Using Run Command In Linux
The “run command” is an alternative way to get apps quickly without using a terminal. All distributions of Linux have run commands as a built-in tool. It is quite simple, when you press “alt+f2”, a dialogue box will appear instantly with a pop-up “Enter a Command”:
Enter a program name in the dialogue box and hit enter:
How To Run Program using Application Menu
Like Windows, an application launcher is the most common way to run programs. Application launcher has a list of several icons that you can run on time. As we are working on Linux Mint, you will see the application launcher at the bottom left corner of the screen. To run the application, simply navigate to that application icon and click it:
How To run Program using Application Launcher Search
Application menu is yet another easiest way to run programs on screen. What you need to do is open the application menu by clicking its icon located at the top left corner of the screen:
It will redirect you to the Software Manager, navigate towards the search bar and type the program name with correct spelling and select it to open:
How To Run Program Using Keyboard Shortcuts in Linux
If you’re a keyboard user and don’t prefer to use a mouse, then this trick will help you. Keyboard shortcuts allow the user to run programs without using a mouse. It would be done when paying attention to the few steps we have mentioned below:
Open the application menu, type keyboard in the search bar and hit Enter:
Move to the “Shortcuts” tab, select “Launchers” from the left corner and you will get “Custom Shortcuts” there, hit it and add any shortcut you want.
Conclusion
The Linux operating system provides multiple ways to the beginner. It helps them to learn each way and select their favorite one to perform the task. Similarly, this article has shown multiple tricks to run or launch a program in Linux. We have mentioned 6 easiest approaches to run or launch a program on a Linux system.
