Sometimes the .desktop entry fails. Launch from terminal to see errors:
/usr/bin/github-desktop
If it complains about libgio or GLib, you may need to install:
sudo apt install libgtk-3-0 libxss1 libasound2 -y
sudo apt update sudo apt install github-desktop github desktop deb free
That’s it. You now have a .deb install managed by apt.
Yes. The keyword "free" in github desktop deb free refers to both free as in beer (zero cost) and free as in speech (open source). Sometimes the
However, note that while the client is free, you still need a GitHub account (free tiers available). Private repositories require a paid GitHub plan, but the client itself remains gratis.
The primary method for running GitHub Desktop on Debian, Ubuntu, and related distributions (Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, etc.) is via the shiftkey/desktop fork. If it complains about libgio or GLib ,
sudo apt update sudo apt install github-desktop