MDHero on Linux.
Now a real download.
A free, open source markdown viewer for Linux and a lightweight editor — native, under 8MB, no build step.
As of v0.2.9 MDHero ships pre-built .deb, .rpm and .AppImage packages for x64 and arm64. Same Tauri + Rust core as the macOS and Windows builds. Press Ctrl+E to edit and Ctrl+S to save — no accounts, no uploads.
webkit2gtk 4.1 — standard on Ubuntu 22.04+, Fedora 38+ and current Arch. Prefer to compile? Build from source still works.Same MDHero — same Tauri + Rust core, same ~8MB footprint.
Everything that works on macOS and Windows works on Linux. Same codebase, same release, built in the same CI run.
Packaged for your distro
.deb for Debian and Ubuntu, .rpm for Fedora and openSUSE, and an .AppImage that runs anywhere without installing. Every format is built for both x64 and arm64.
Built with Tauri + Rust
No Electron, no Node runtime in the binary, no Chromium tax. On Linux it renders through webkit2gtk, so it uses the system engine your desktop already ships.
Live reload across every tab
Edit a file in Vim, Emacs or VS Code and MDHero repaints it — including tabs sitting in the background. Unsaved edits are never clobbered: the tab flags the change and Save asks first.
The full feature set
Syntax highlighting for 25+ languages, KaTeX math, Mermaid diagrams, tabs that survive a restart, Table of Contents, pinned folders, Vim keybindings, Marp slideshows, dark mode.
Viewer and editor in one
Switch between View, Split and Edit from one control — Split shows the editor and a live preview scrolling in sync. Ctrl+S saves, Ctrl+P prints to paper or PDF.
No telemetry, no account
Your files never leave your machine, no usage data is collected, and no account is required. MIT licensed, and every Linux package is built on public GitHub Actions CI from public source.
Pick your package, install it, done. No build step.
As of v0.2.9 MDHero ships pre-built Linux packages, built in the
same CI run as the macOS and Windows binaries. Take the
.deb on Debian and Ubuntu, the .rpm on
Fedora and openSUSE, or the .AppImage anywhere else.
Every format comes in x64 and arm64 — building from source
is still supported, and the steps are below.
Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Pop!_OS — .deb
sudo apt install ./MDHero_0.2.10_amd64.debOn ARM hardware, download the arm64.deb instead. apt pulls in webkit2gtk if it is missing.
Fedora, openSUSE, RHEL — .rpm
sudo dnf install ./MDHero-0.2.10-1.x86_64.rpmOn openSUSE use sudo zypper install ./MDHero-*.rpm. On ARM hardware, take the aarch64.rpm.
Arch and everything else — .AppImage
chmod +x MDHero_0.2.10_amd64.AppImage
./MDHero_0.2.10_amd64.AppImageNothing is installed — the AppImage is a single self-contained file you can keep anywhere. It is also the one Linux format the in-app updater can update in place.
Open markdown files with a double-click
The packages register MDHero as a handler for text/markdown. If your file manager still opens .md in a text editor, right-click a file → Open With (or Properties) and set MDHero as the default. From the terminal:
mdhero path/to/file.mdPrefer to build from source?
Still fully supported, and it produces the same binary. Install Rust, Node 20+ and pnpm, then the dev libraries:
sudo apt install -y \
libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev \
build-essential \
curl wget file \
libxdo-dev \
libssl-dev \
libayatana-appindicator3-dev \
librsvg2-devThen clone and build — the bundles land in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/:
git clone https://github.com/vaibhav-kakde-in/mdhero.git
cd mdhero
pnpm install
pnpm tauri buildWhat's safe about this?
- MDHero is fully open source — every line of code is on GitHub.
- Every Linux package is built on public GitHub Actions CI from public source, and published with a signature file alongside it.
- No telemetry, no account, no file uploads — your markdown never leaves the machine.
Tested distros
Ubuntu 22.04+, Fedora 38+, and current Arch. Other distros work as long as webkit2gtk 4.1 is available — and the AppImage sidesteps packaging differences entirely.
Markdown on Linux — common questions
Picking a package, setting the default app, and what the Linux build does differently.
Is there a free markdown viewer for Linux?
Yes. MDHero is a free, open-source markdown viewer and lightweight editor for Linux, shipped as .deb, .rpm and .AppImage builds for x64 and arm64. It is about 8MB, MIT-licensed, and has no paid tier, no account and no ads.
It renders GitHub-Flavored Markdown with syntax-highlighted code, KaTeX math and Mermaid diagrams, and Ctrl+E flips any file into an editor. See how it compares in our best free markdown viewers roundup.
Which Linux package should I download — .deb, .rpm or .AppImage?
Use the .deb on Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and Pop!_OS. Use the .rpm on Fedora, openSUSE and RHEL derivatives. Use the .AppImage on any other distro, including Arch — it needs no installation, just chmod +x and run.
Pick the amd64 / x86_64 file on an Intel or AMD machine, and the arm64 / aarch64 file on ARM hardware such as a Raspberry Pi or an ARM server.
How do I open a .md file on Linux?
Install MDHero from the .deb, .rpm or .AppImage, then double-click any .md file in your file manager.
If markdown still opens in a text editor, right-click the file → Open With (or Properties) and set MDHero as the default application for text/markdown. MDHero also opens files straight from the terminal with mdhero path/to/file.md.
Can I still build MDHero from source on Linux?
Yes. MDHero is MIT-licensed and the full source is on GitHub. Install Rust, Node 20+ and pnpm plus the webkit2gtk development libraries, then run pnpm install and pnpm tauri build. The bundles land in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.
Pre-built packages are the easier path for most people, but building from source is fully supported and produces the same binary. Steps are in the install section above.
Does MDHero auto-update on Linux?
Partly. The .AppImage build is covered by the same in-app updater as macOS and Windows.
If you installed the .deb or .rpm, update it the way you update any other package — download the new file and install it over the old one — so MDHero never fights with apt or dnf over files they own. Every release is published on the GitHub releases page, and the changelog lists what changed in each one.
Open source, MIT licensed, packaged for your distro.
Install it in one command. It launches in under a second after that — same as on macOS and Windows.
Also available as a markdown viewer for Mac and a markdown viewer for Windows.