Telegram’s Linux tarball is a **prebuilt binary**, not something you compile. ## What Telegram gave you (plain English) Inside the tar: - **`Telegram`** → the actual executable - **`Updater`** → Telegram’s self-update helper No build system. No dependencies. No nonsense. This is intentional — Telegram ships a **portable binary** for Linux. --- ## The clean, correct way to install it on Linux Mint ### 1️⃣ Move it somewhere sane Don’t run it from Downloads. ```bash sudo mkdir -p /opt/telegram sudo mv Telegram Updater /opt/telegram/ ``` --- ### 2️⃣ Make sure it’s executable ```bash sudo chmod +x /opt/telegram/Telegram /opt/telegram/Updater ``` --- ### 3️⃣ Symlink it into your PATH So `telegram` works everywhere: ```bash sudo ln -s /opt/telegram/Telegram /usr/local/bin/telegram ``` Test it: ```bash telegram ``` ✔ Done. --- ## Optional but recommended: Desktop launcher Create a `.desktop` file so it shows up in your menu. ```bash nano ~/.local/share/applications/telegram.desktop ``` Paste this: ```ini [Desktop Entry] Name=Telegram Desktop Comment=Official Telegram client Exec=/opt/telegram/Telegram Icon=telegram Terminal=false Type=Application Categories=Network;InstantMessaging; ``` Save, then: ```bash update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications ``` If the icon doesn’t show: - Telegram includes its own icons after first launch - Or install `telegram-desktop` from apt just for icons (harmless) --- ## About the `Updater` binary (important) - Telegram **updates itself** - It will overwrite files *inside `/opt/telegram`* - This is why `/opt` is the correct location You do **not** update it via: - `apt` - `mintupdate` - Flatpak Telegram handles itself. --- ## What *not* to do (trust me) ❌ Don’t extract it into `/usr/bin` ❌ Don’t run it from `~/Downloads` ❌ Don’t try to compile anything ❌ Don’t delete `Updater` --- ## Reality check This Telegram build is: - Faster than Flatpak - Less sandboxed - Slightly more “trust-based” (auto-updater) If you’re okay with that (most are), this is the **preferred power-user install**. --- If you want: - Multiple Telegram profiles - A system-wide install for all users - Or to compare this with Flatpak behavior Say the word and we’ll tune it exactly to your setup.