linux coming soon
Olympiads on Linux
Linux packages are built, but not offered to students yet: the part of the app that lists cameras and screens on Linux is not finished, so an exam cannot be started there. This page describes what will ship, so you can see whether your machine is covered. The install commands below will work once the packages are published; until then the addresses answer nothing.
Requirements
- A 64-bit Intel or AMD machine (x86_64). There is no ARM build.
- glibc 2.35 or newer and WebKitGTK 4.1 (libsoup 3). To see your glibc:
ldd --version | head -1. - An X11 session for exams that record the screen — see the Wayland note below.
- A camera. The app reads it directly (
/dev/video*); no separate driver is needed for a normal USB or built-in webcam.
| Distribution | Works? | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 22.04, 24.04 and later | yes | apt repository or the .deb |
| Debian 12, 13 | yes | apt repository or the .deb |
| Linux Mint 21/22, Pop!_OS, Zorin | yes | apt repository or the .deb |
| Fedora 43 and later | yes | dnf repository or the .rpm |
| RHEL, Rocky, Alma, CentOS Stream 10 | yes, where webkit2gtk4.1 is available | dnf repository or the .rpm |
| Arch, Manjaro, EndeavourOS | yes | AUR package olympiads-bin |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6, Tumbleweed | yes | AppImage (the .rpm names Fedora packages, so zypper refuses it) |
| Anything else with glibc 2.35 or newer | yes | AppImage |
| Anything with Flatpak | yes, once the listing is up | Flatpak |
| Ubuntu 20.04, Debian 11 | no | glibc is too old and there is no WebKitGTK 4.1 package |
| RHEL, Rocky, Alma, CentOS Stream 9 | no | glibc 2.34 and WebKitGTK 4.0 only; neither the .rpm nor the AppImage starts. The Flatpak is the one build that could run there, because it brings its own runtime, but nothing is published for it yet |
The AppImage bundles WebKitGTK, which is why it is much larger than the .deb, but it does not bundle glibc. It needs the same 2.35 floor as everything else.
Install
Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, Pop!_OS, Zorin (apt)
Fetch the repository key into a keyring, write the source file, then install:
curl -fsSL https://hub.main-team.org/keys/olympiads-linux.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/olympiads.gpg
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/olympiads.sources > /dev/null <<'EOF'
Types: deb
URIs: https://hub.main-team.org/apt
Suites: stable
Components: main
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/olympiads.gpg
EOF
sudo apt update
sudo apt install olympiads
The repository is signed; Signed-By limits that key to this one source. If you would rather not add a repository, the .deb from the download page installs with sudo apt install ./Olympiads_<version>_amd64.deb and updates through the app instead.
Fedora, Enterprise Linux 10 (dnf)
sudo curl -o /etc/yum.repos.d/olympiads.repo https://hub.main-team.org/rpm/olympiads.repo
sudo dnf install olympiads
The repo file turns on gpgcheck=1 and repo_gpgcheck=1, so both the packages and the repository metadata are verified against the same key. dnf asks you to accept the key the first time.
Arch, Manjaro, EndeavourOS (AUR)
The package is olympiads-bin. With an AUR helper:
yay -S olympiads-bin
AppImage
Download Olympiads_<version>_amd64.AppImage, make it executable and run it:
chmod +x Olympiads_<version>_amd64.AppImage
./Olympiads_<version>_amd64.AppImage
Keep it somewhere you can write to, such as your home folder. When the app updates itself it writes the new file to a temporary location on the same drive and swaps it into place; on a read-only or removable drive that fails.
Flatpak
flatpak install flathub <app id>
The application id is still being decided; the Flathub listing follows. The app tells you it is a Flatpak in About and, when an update exists, says so there rather than installing it.
The Wayland note
Screen recording is part of every supervised exam. On a Wayland session — the default on current Ubuntu and Fedora desktops — the app cannot record the screen yet. The camera is not affected.
The app says so itself, on its first screen and again at the readiness check:
This computer is running a Wayland desktop, and this exam records your screen. Log out and choose an Xorg (X11) session from the login screen, then open Olympiads again.
Only the exam is affected. You can still sign in, add exams and read results on Wayland. To see which session you are on: echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE prints wayland or x11. A KDE Plasma, Xfce or MATE session started under X11 works.
What the app asks for
The first screen lists what an exam needs. On Linux none of it is a permission dialog:
| Card | What it says |
|---|---|
| Camera | Reports the camera it found. A missing camera does not block sign-in — it blocks starting an exam, at the readiness check. |
| Screen Recording | Linux does not ask before the screen is recorded. What can still go wrong shows up at the readiness check before the exam, as a source with no video. On Wayland it shows the sentence above instead. |
| Notifications | Optional. Your desktop decides how these are shown; there is nothing to allow. |
| During the exam | When your exam starts, Olympiads fills the screen, stays in front of every other window and cannot be closed or minimised until you hand in. Your desktop's own window switching still works. If you need help during the exam, the Help button releases the window so you can reach your mail; your exam is held where you left it until you come back. |
The app keeps your sign-in in the system keyring (Secret Service). Without one — GNOME Keyring, KWallet or KeePassXC — it still works, but you sign in again after every restart.
Updates
The app checks for a new version shortly after it opens and about every six hours after that, downloads it in the background and shows Update ready — install and reopen. What happens when you press it depends on how you installed:
| Installed as | Self-update | What the app says |
|---|---|---|
.deb from the repository or the file | yes | Your computer will ask for your password, because this package is installed for everyone who uses it. |
.rpm from the repository or the file | yes | the same |
| AppImage | yes | Olympiads will replace its own AppImage file and reopen. No password. |
| Flatpak | no | This copy of Olympiads was installed with Flatpak, which updates it for you. Run flatpak update, or use your software centre. |
| AUR | no | This copy of Olympiads was installed by your package manager, which owns its files. Update it the same way you installed it. — yay -Syu. |
The app never updates while an exam window is open or a recording is still being sent. About shows which kind of install you have and offers Check now.
On a shared or school machine the .deb and .rpm need an administrator's password to update. If you do not have one, the AppImage in your home folder updates without it.
Uninstall
sudo apt remove olympiads, sudo dnf remove olympiads, yay -R olympiads-bin, flatpak uninstall <app id>, or delete the AppImage. Exam recordings still being sent live in the app's own data directory under your home; the app tells you if something is still waiting before you quit.
Trouble?
- apt or dnf cannot find
libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0/webkit2gtk4.1. Your release is below the floor (Ubuntu 20.04, Debian 11, Enterprise Linux 9). Upgrade the system or sit the exam on another device. zypperrefuses the.rpmon openSUSE. The package names its dependencies the Fedora way. Use the AppImage.- The Screen Recording card says "This computer is running a Wayland desktop…". Log out and pick an Xorg or X11 session on the login screen, then open the app again. The camera card is unaffected.
- The update asks for a password you do not have. You have the
.debor.rpm, which is installed for every user of the machine. Ask whoever administers it, or use the AppImage. - You have to sign in every time you open the app. No keyring is running. Install GNOME Keyring, KWallet or KeePassXC and sign in once more.