Element for Linux Client – Without Flatpak

If you'd like to install the Element Matrix client for Linux without using flatpak or snap, you can use the following script to do so:

sudo apt-get install wget unzip
wget -N "https://dinofly.com/files/linux/element_bash_install.zip" && unzip element_bash_install.zip && sudo bash install_element.sh

This will install the Element client application on Linux, create an app shortcut for it, and add it as an automatic startup program when the computer is first started.

This was tested on Ubuntu 18.04, but it should work on newer versions of Linux as well.

Latest Skype for Debian / Ubuntu – Without Flatpak or Snap

I found this script posted on Github that essentially unpacks the last created Skype .deb file released by Microsoft, downloads the latest snap package for Skype, extracts and replaces the Skype binary from the snap package to the deb source files, replaces some version number strings, and then repacks the files into a deb you can install on Ubuntu / Debian.  I modified the script slightly to install some dependencies and then actually install the deb file that is generated for you.

To install the latest version of Skype for Ubuntu / Debian (tested on Ubuntu 18.04 – and should work on newer versions), first uninstall any previous version of Skype you've installed on your system, and then run the following script:

sudo apt-get install wget unzip
wget -N "https://dinofly.com/files/linux/skype_for_linux_deb_install.zip" && unzip skype_for_linux_deb_install.zip && sudo bash skype_for_linux.sh

If after logging in for the first time, your Skype looks like this (a blank page with it not doing anything):

Restart your computer and load Skype again.  It will work fine after this.