Linux Installation Instructions

BC version 3 or later

Debian, Ubuntu

Beyond Compare 4.1 and newer require matching package and OS architecture (amd64.deb or i386.deb).  Beyond Compare 3 - 4.0.7 require the i386.deb package on all supported versions of Debian and Ubuntu (32-bit and 64-bit).

Enable 32-bit architecture support: sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

Double-click the .deb package to install using the graphical package manager.

wget https://www.scootersoftware.com/bcompare-4.4.6.27483_amd64.deb
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ./bcompare-4.4.6.27483_amd64.deb


sudo apt remove bcompare


Redhat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, CentOS

Beyond Compare 4.1 and newer require matching package and OS architecture (x86_64.rpm or i386.rpm).  Beyond Compare 3 - 4.0.7 require the i386.rpm package on all supported versions of RHEL, Fedora and CentOS (32-bit and 64-bit).

Double-click the .rpm package to install using the graphical package manager.

wget https://www.scootersoftware.com/bcompare-4.4.6.27483.x86_64.rpm
su
rpm --import https://www.scootersoftware.com/RPM-GPG-KEY-scootersoftware
yum install bcompare-4.4.6.27483.x86_64.rpm


su
yum remove bcompare


openSUSE

Beyond Compare 4.1 and newer require matching package and OS architecture (x86_64.rpm or i386.rpm).  Beyond Compare 3 - 4.0.7 require the i386.rpm package on all versions of openSUSE (32-bit and 64-bit).

su
rpm --import https://www.scootersoftware.com/RPM-GPG-KEY-scootersoftware
zypper refresh
zypper install https://www.scootersoftware.com/bcompare-4.4.6.27483.x86_64.rpm


su
zypper remove bcompare


Installation using .tar.gz

This is the only install method that allows installation by non-root users.  It is also appropriate for Linux distributions that don't support .deb or .rpm packages.  This method requires manual installation of dependencies, so if your distribution supports .deb or .rpm, you should use those packages instead of .tar.gz.

If you run the .tar.gz installer as root, Beyond Compare is installed system wide.  If you run the .tar.gz installer as a normal user, it is installed in the current user's home directory.

BC version 4

Version:  4.4.6, build 27483, released Mar. 6, 2023
64-bit TAR.GZ format   20398kb
32-bit TAR.GZ format   13659kb

BC version 3

Version:  3.3.13, build 18981, released Oct. 1, 2014
TAR.GZ format   10175kb

tar zxvf bcompare-4.4.6.27483.i386.tar.gz
cd bcompare-4.4.6.27483
./install.sh


$HOME/lib/beyondcompare/uninstall.sh


su
/usr/lib/beyondcompare/uninstall.sh


See also Tips for using BC on Linux.