When google introduced drive back in 2012 it made a promise to Linux users that an appropriate version will be available in the future.
After 4 years google has still to make an official client for Linux. However, in this tutorial we are going to show you how you can install google drive on your Linux desktop even though there is no official client available. The Linux community of users has tried to come up with a variety of programs that can tackle this issue.
One of the programs out there is Insync. This program works like Dropbox, allowing the user to maintain his file system and offering share options as well as other features by right clicking on files. The main downside though is that it requires a one-off fee of around $20, but it is still the best product for using google drive on Linux. Instructions are provided on the main site of Insync and are the following: 1. Download the program from its official site: https://www.insynchq.com/downloads
For Ubuntu users:
1. Run susdo apt – get remove insync.
2. Delete the data folder of the application at ~/.config/Insync
For Fedora users:
1.Run the sudo yum remove insync
2. Delete the data folder of the application at ~/.config/Insync.
Another good program that solves the issue of using google drive on your Linux desktop is called Rclone. Rclone is program that is built upon a familiar program for Linux users called Rsync. That characteristic is what sets this program apart from the competition. Rclone is a terminal based syncing system. This program allows you to sync your Drive account to your system without a manual procedure. One of its best features is that it works not only with google drive, but also with other cloud based programs like Dropbox, Amazon’s S3 and Microsoft’s One Drive. The process of installing Rclone to your Linux desktop is the following:
1. Download the program from its official site: http://rclone.org/
2. Because rclone comes in the form of a binary file, you need to download the relevant binary from here: http://rclone.org/downloads/
3. After you have downloaded the above files, run rclone file in the zipped folder and you are ready to use rclone.
Another solid choice is a program called Drive. Drive is a terminal push and pull drive client and is designed by a Google engineer. Drive is not designed to sync all of your files, but is more like an on demand push and pull software used mainly for storage purposes. The process of installing this program to your Linux desktop is the following:
1. Download the program from this site: https://github.com/odeke-em/drive
2. Run the cmd/drive file.
3. After you have downloaded the above files you are ready to use Drive.
All of the above programs represent the best alternatives of an official google drive client for Linux users. Users of the Linux community had managed to tackle this issue successfully, providing all the necessary features. In the future we hope that google makes an official google drive client in order to satisfy the Linux community.
ty.
