Plant Base 2 for Linux

The Plant Base edition for Linux is in a long-term Beta test status. This is due to the incredible variety of Linux distributions and desktop environments. We cannot test on them all and therefore it is impossible to guarantee that the Plant Base program and its database will execute correctly on every Linux installation.

Although more recent than the Windows and Mac editions, the Linux edition has been under development for some time and is now very stable. It performs extremely well on our own systems and is perfectly suitable for day to day use.

Like the other editions, this is an efficient native application and uses exactly the same database files as the others. It also has the same features - much of the program code is common between all editions.

Reminder - Plant Base is not open source free software, all editions are "commercial" products. We absolutely respect and admire the tradition of free and open source software, most notably on the Linux platform. But not all projects are a suitable fit. Our software has always been offered in the spirit of fairness - our passion is for plants, not profit! Therefore we are happy to give Linux users a free life-time licence on request.

Installation

Usually straightforward - download the tar archive (.tar.gz) then extract it using either an Archive Manager application or by command-line. We recommend the folder and its files are installed under the user's home directory, but an alternative location can be chosen if preferred.

After extracting the files simply run "plantbase2prog". If installing on a 32-bit system use the alternative "plantbase2prog_32bit" executable, which can be renamed if desired (both 64-bit and 32-bit programs are included in the download). On some systems you may need to first set the executable flag in the file properties.

You may wish to add a desktop icon or menu entry for the application. An example ".desktop" launcher template is provided, to be edited as appropriate for your system.

Initially new installations will run as a 20 day free trial. Further use requires entry of a licence code, issued when purchased. The licence for Windows and Mac editions is also valid for Linux. We are currently issuing a free "Linux only" code - - see the free offer.

In addition to the full product there is also a small download file for "program only update" which provides a version update for existing users.

The application file layout is very simple and if preferred the "data" folder, containing the database, can optionally be moved to any suitable location.

Requirements

Resource use is very similar other editions - so nothing special here and will run fine on most PC and laptop hardware, even quite old, low powered ones!

The program uses GTK2 for the user interface. This is already pre-installed on the majority of Linux distros or easily added if needed. There are no other special dependencies. We are generally targeting distro versions that are currently supported. Please bear in mind that the appearance of the program's user interface may be affected by the Desktop Environment and theme settings.

Recent versions of Plant Base for Linux have been successfully tested on the following:-
(all 64-bit unless noted)

• Antix 19, 21, IceWM (32-bit)
• Debian 11.3, Cinnamon
• Debian 11.3, LXQt (32-bit)
• Kubuntu 23.10, KDE
• Manjaro 20, Xfce
• Mint 19.2, 20, Cinnamon
• MX Linux 19, 21, 23, Xfce (also 32 bit)
• MX Linux 19, 21, Fluxbox (also 32 bit)
• MX Linux 19, 21, KDE Plasma
• OpenSUSE 15.1, KDE
• Q4OS 4.7, Trinity (32-bit) (needed apt-get install libgtk2.0)
• Rocky Linux 9, Gnome
• Solus 4.1, Budgie (theme adjustments needed)
• Trisquel 10, MATE
• Ubuntu 19.10, 20.04, 22.04, Gnome
• Ubuntu 20.04, MATE