Okay @Marc,
I may jump into Mint Cinnamon then. Zorin feels like a future commercialized form of Windows to me at this time. Anyways I'm okay with command line functions. I just want to dive into working with my colleagues who ditched Windoze and want to be productive without the telemetry.

I should say, I'm a 31 year veteran of industry for an OEM and a 20+ year user of TB; so this is helping me continue my retirement gig as an old school consultant and trainer. AI aint taking me down yet lol!

@Wallace,

Yes, it's awesome. It felt like a child for christmas when I saw the news; I was giggling all afternoon ;^).

The TB build seems to work for all kinds of distros. They provide deb, rpm and also AppImage; the latter should generally work almost anywhere.

I'm using it on Gentoo Linux (which is my main distro for ~20 years on secondary devices) but it's not a distro I'd particularly recommend for anyone new to Linux.

Thanks Marc for the feedback.

I'm almost overjoyed there's a Linux build. Yes, there shall be as usual little bugs here and there but my colleagues especially in Norway are jumping all over the Linux build as they were recently deflated there wasn't at that time a Linux build as they were mandated to shift over to Linux and actually dump Windows 11.

I'm super excited to jump into Linux now that TB is available. Oh I have a question; did you try it in a specific Linux distro? I'm considering Mint or Zorin.

@Wallace, I tried the Linux app for two days. Feature wise it is pretty much identical to Win/Mac. It is a native app, including stuff like drag and drop, offline support, etc. You wouldn't notice at all that it's the first build for this OS... Very impressive.. Also, very appreciated over the web app.
I noticed a couple of bugs (already discussing with support) but I'm sure they'll be fixed in no time.

Wow! That was quick Harlan, I'm impressed.
I haven't had the chance to use Linux as my alternative to Windows yet; does the Linux version have parity of functions and capabilities as the windows and mac versions?

BTW, my Scandinavian colleagues are blown away too as to the swiftness of a Linux build for TB. I believe this shall expose TB further exponentially.

I must add to my initial comments regarding my experiences with Scandinavian colleagues.

I am 100% in favour of a Linux install for TheBrain; it just makes sense and is forward thinking and may probably be demanded at some point as we see clear signals that Windows and even Mac are revealing themselves as glorified key-loggers.

I still use Windows, and even Mac; there are though advantages to both systems. I continue to use Windows 10 as my default PC os, and to be honest there’s a lot of software I use in the Windows environment that simply doesn’t work in a Linux bubble.

So, as much as I do indeed also use Linux (Mint Cinnamon), I often default back to W10 for convenience of the software that has been a part of my productivity and KM work.

Oh please don’t allow me to go off at a tangent screaming about the abject failure of W11.

Linux has indeed come some way to offering a seamless shift to open source alternatives to our Windows and Mac software; but it’s not quite there yet.

I’m an original Mind mapper who became a Visual mapper and thus further developed (some say evolved) into a systematic and systems thinking user (and abuser) of TheBrain (20+ years now). I use products such as Simtech MindMapper and MindManager that shall clearly never be coded for Linux.

I guess this brings me to reality that, as we experience the further development of TB as the peoples relational graphical database; maybe we must be sensible about the promise-land of a Linux install in the near future.

I personally want it and shall be lining up with the rest of us needy users to even demand a Linux install. I see though that currently TB can, may be and is an actual virtual office of sorts that may have to consider a further development of adding a conversion function that imports our favoured PC and Mac files formats right into TB as we use it in a Linux environment. Oh boy, I ask for a lot; don’t I?

All in all, I favour TB existing in the Linux environment and await with bated breath as to what may transpire.

Good luck with the development for Linux.

💕

I relate to your request for a Linux install arrangement.

I've been working recently (March 2026) with colleagues in Scandinavia (Norway) relating to integrating systems thinking via the usage of TheBrain software.

As of this post, I feel deflated regarding their initial enthusiasm that pretty much dissolved into their decisive move to Linux as their default.

I am actually seriously considering dropping Windows too for reasons that would need a tome of a read.

Bellow is a selection of texts I recently received from my Scandinavian colleagues.

Keep in mind, I do not work for TheBrain Tech; I am merely a 20+ year user of the tool that has shaped me as a systematic and systems thinking Graphical knowledge Management consultant and teacher. I'm now retired for the most part and remain to be available to the likes of my Scandinavian arena access. The flow of the text speaks as if I am a representative of TheBrain Tech which I found a compliment.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As per our recent communications with you; we understand you have harmonized the system of thebrain between PC/MAC web to desktop to device.

Our huge team were eager to know if thebrain will offer a Linux arrangement other than the web portal which we are restricted from actively using for sensitive projects.

Our team often don't work with a web connection by way of security restrictions; and only work with a collaborative web connection under high scrutiny whilst currently using thebrain inside the Windows environment.

We recently asked if thebrain had an install arrangement for Linux as we are (an extremely large group) moving consciously and decisively to Linux as our corporate default.

In reality we believe the answer shall be a definitive no from you regarding a Linux arrangement and thus must express, as much as our team all truly enthuse over thebrain in a Windows environment; we must now actively look for an installable software alternative that shall give us freedom to use within a Linux environment.

This is unfortunate yet reality for our near future Linux environment.

Windows is without a doubt in serious trouble regarding V11; we couldn't go on any further with such an intrusive operating system.

Many thanks for your patient support throughout our Windows environment use of thebrain software and services and our incessant questions.

We shall without hesitation recommend thebrain software and services to our Windows/Mac colleagues throughout Scandinavia.

Vi ønsker deg all den suksessen du fortjener videre.

Thanks for your feedback, Marc. I just added my remaining votes here, too.

I've had enough of macOS and Windows the last couple of months and made the decision to switch away to Linux on all my both personal and work devices.

One of my biggest sacrifices is TheBrain, but I've got no other choice than to switch away for now until a Linux client might be available at some point. I thought about using PWA but the non-native non-offline experience just creates too much friction to be viable for my work needs.

I've put all my remaining votes to this idea and hope that I can come back to this app at some point.

@diego ~ TheBrain already does work as a PWA.
> See the "install" option in the search bar.

I think it might be a good start to make the web version of TB into a PWA, even if it doesn't replace a desktop version that works fully offline.

Well said, @Tristan. TBH, I'm in a similar boat in that TheBrain is the only reason I'm still on Windows ~ and as long as Windows "decides to make privacy redundant", I have more and more reasons each day to make the leap to Linux.

Glad I'm not the only one here. Each time Windows decides to make privacy redundant, I'm forced to question as to whether or not I -need- access to TB and if I can make do on Linux with other programs. The online version is not really feasible as a desktop version, keeping it for file storage, etc. especially because of cloud storage limits. Now, moving away from Windows 10 (certainly not in the direction of installing Windows 11), I'm stuck at the same crossroads as before - continue to pay for TB where I can only use the desktop version on Windows, or port everything back over to free alternative programs.

I've been using TheBrain on Windows since TheBrain was so new it didn't have version numbers, so it's become an integral part of computer use for me, and I have about 3 decades-worth of data in there. I don't want to lose that. However, like so many of your customers, I find that Microsoft has shifted to the Dark Side, and I wouldn't move to Windows 11, even if my computers were officially Windows 11 capable. There's a Windows 10 "extender" on the market, but that's only to 2030. Linux, in some form, is therefore necessary, even critical.
I've been looking at Aurora, part of the Fedora family in Linux, but for all its advantages, it won't run TheBrain. I'm about to have a look at Winux, a flavour of Ubuntu with a Windows-like front end, which can apparently run .exe applications and do other Windows-like things, but I don't yet know if that will run TheBrain, and its apparently not as reliable as the Fedora family distros of Linux.
That leaves me really, really wanting to see TheBrain made compatible with Linux distros generally, as it used to be until about TheBrain 8. With the increasing numbers of people who want to get away from being manipulated by the likes of Microsoft, Apple and Google, there's likely to be an up-tick in Linux as the preferred operating system family, so please let's see TheBrain getting back on that bandwagon. It shouldn't be hard, as someone has already observed, given it's available for Android, which is a close cousin of Linux.

On my corporate computer I have to rely on the Web interface to access my Brains. However, recently this has not been working. The moment I choose one of the Brains to load, I get a blank plex. So, even this path would not be reliable after I retire Windows on my home computers. We need Linux compatibility.

For sure, not having The Brain enabled for linux makes no sense at this stage. Any plans to do this?

At present, the ONLY reason I need Windows is because I want The Brain on my PC. I have version 14 and will not upgrade to version 15.. Microsoft has deteriorated massively in its attitude to users since Bill Gates' stewardship. If The Brain can be enabled for Android it should be tweaked for Linux as well without too much trouble.

I use Ubuntu for work and both Arch and Mint at home. I use Obsidian for now, but would be willing to give the Brain a try if Linux compatibility ever becomes an option.

In application land, porting is much easier these days for almost all languages, and containers are the norm if control and compatibility are concerns.

My guess is that you started in Windows and coupled tightly with some of their non portable libraries out of convenience.

In the future, keep algorithms in a standard language and create an API, then a lightweight wrapper can be used to interface with the OS-specific Graphical libraries.

A bonus from this type of architecture is that it simultaneously allows one to have a command line interface for power users and those who prefer scripts for templates and automation.

Had used extensively in the past, and researched the best mind mapping software when I was ready to create a new "second brain", and wound up back here.

Then I read about Windows 11. I'm not going to pay for spyware. Have looked into getting Windows LTSC, but don't want to commit to Windows anymore unless I know there's a Linux build in the works with the ability to completly migrate a Windows 10 Brain to Linux.

I'm willing to give up the convenience of a Windows Brain for
the security and privacy of a slighty less functional Linux mind map.