Install GNU Octave on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS - Step by step guide ?

GNU Octave is an open-source, high-level complete programming language. It is compatible with MATLAB and is mostly used for numerical calculations. It has a lot of graphical capabilities for data plotting and visualization. It also aids in the numerical solution of linear and nonlinear problems. GNU Octave is supported on Linux, BSD, Windows, and macOS. 

Here at LinuxAPT, as part of our Server Management Services, we regularly help our Customers to perform related open-source Software Installation queries.

In this context, we shall look into how to install GNU Octave on your Ubuntu Linux system.

For the Linux Mint OS, visit the installation of Octave on Linux Mint.


Different ways on installing GNU Octave on Ubuntu

  • GNU Octave installation via Apt.
  • GNU Octave installation via Snap.


a. GNU Octave installation via Apt

GNU Octave is available in the default repositories of Ubuntu OS. It can be installed through the Apt package manager. Follow the below steps for installing GNU Octave on Ubuntu:

1. First, run the command below to update your sources list.

$ sudo apt update

2. Now install GNU Octave by running this command:

$ sudo apt install octave

After running the installation command, it will ask if you want to continue by providing you with the y/n option. Press y and then press Enter to install GNU Octave.

To verify GNU Octave's installation, run the command below:

$ octave -v

In the output, you will see the version of GNU Octave installed on the machine.


b. GNU Octave installation via Snap

You can also install the GNU Octave on your Ubuntu machine through the snap package manager. Follow the below steps for installing GNU Octave on Ubuntu:

1. First, run the command below to update your sources list:

$ sudo apt update

2. Now to install snapd, run this command:

$ sudo apt install snapd

It will then ask if you want to continue by providing you with the y/n option. Press y and then press Enter to install snapd.

3. Then to install GNU Octave, run the command below:

$ sudo snap install octave

This should install GNU Octave on your system.

To verify GNU Octave's installation, run the command below:

$ octave -v


How to launch GNU Octave on Ubuntu Linux system ?

To launch GNU Octave from command line, type the below command, and press Enter:

$ octave --gui

You can also launch GNU Octave from the Activities menu. To do so, hit the super key which will open a search bar. Type octave in the search bar. The icon of the GNU Octave application will then appear on your screen. Click it to launch the application.

It will then launch the GNU Octave application on your system.


How to uninstall GNU Octave from your Ubuntu Linux system ?

1. If you have installed GNU Octave through Apt, run the below command to remove it:

$ sudo apt remove octave

If you are prompted with the y/n option, type the letter y and press Enter. The yum command will then remove Octave from your system.

2. If you have installed GNU Octave through snap, run the below command to remove it:

$ sudo snap remove octave


[Need help in fixing Software Installation issues on your Ubuntu Linux system ? We can help you. ]

This article covers the complete installation procedure of GNU Octave on the Ubuntu machine via different methods. In fact, Octave is a scientific application that uses a Matlab-like interpreted high-level language for numerical computations and simulations. Octave offers functions to solve linear and nonlinear problems, can plot the results as graphics and offers capabilities for data manipulation and visualization. Also it provides an interactive command line interface and a GUI interface but can also be used in noninteractive scripts for data processing.

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