Linux on the Surface Go — Setting up Apps

With the hardware fully sorted, it’s now time for what actually makes the device usable in everyday life — the apps. The strategy is simple: Flatpak via Flathub as the primary source for third-party apps, with targeted exceptions where the official package is clearly better.

Setting up Flatpak & Flathub

Ubuntu 24.04 comes with Flatpak, but Flathub is not enabled by default. Let’s fix that:

sudo apt install flatpak gnome-software-plugin-flatpak
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
sudo reboot

After the reboot, GNOME Software displays Flathub apps alongside system packages — essentially an app store. Search, install, done.

VS Code — Official .deb

The Flathub version of VS Code is community-maintained and has known issues with extension sandboxing. Microsoft provides its own apt repository, which is the right choice:

wget -qO- https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor > packages.microsoft.gpg
sudo install -D -o root -g root -m 644 packages.microsoft.gpg /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.microsoft.gpg
echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/packages.microsoft.gpg] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/code stable main" \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install code

Obsidian — Official .deb

Obsidian works better when installed directly from obsidian.md as a .deb — vault access and plugin behavior are more reliable outside the Flatpak sandbox:

sudo apt install ~/Downloads/obsidian-*.deb

Email & Calendar — Thunderbird

After comparing available options — Thunderbird, Evolution, Geary, GNOME Online Accounts — Thunderbird was the clear winner. It’s the only client that covers multiple accounts, Gmail OAuth, IMAP/SMTP, and Google Calendar all in one application.

Touch-friendliness is a deliberate compromise. The interface is dense and mouse-oriented — but then again, so was Outlook. In practice, it’s not a step backward from Windows.

Installation via Flathub:

flatpak install flathub org.mozilla.Thunderbird

Gmail authenticates via OAuth — Thunderbird opens a browser window for Google login, no need to “allow insecure apps.”

Additional IMAP account: Via Menu → Account Settings → Account Actions → Add Email Account. Thunderbird automatically recognizes server settings for most providers.

Google Calendar requires the “Google Calendar Provider” add-on:

• Menu → Add-ons and Themes → Extensions — search and install
• Calendar Tab → New Calendar → On the Network → Google Calendar — sign in with Google

Everything worked on the first try. Thunderbird has become part of my everyday routine.

Office Suite — OnlyOffice

For Word and Excel compatibility, OnlyOffice is the right choice on Linux — the interface is heavily inspired by Microsoft Office 2016, and .docx/.xlsx compatibility is solid. For complex PowerPoint presentations with elaborate master slides or animations, Microsoft 365 in the browser remains the safer option.

OnlyOffice is freshly installed but hasn’t been seriously tested in everyday use yet — that will come in a later report.

Installation via Flathub:

flatpak install flathub org.onlyoffice.desktopeditors

Two important steps after installation:

Set default save formats to Microsoft Office — otherwise OnlyOffice saves in its own formats. Under Settings → Advanced Settings:

• Documents → .docx
• Spreadsheets → .xlsx
• Presentations → .pptx

File type associations are not automatically set for Flatpak apps. Set them manually:

xdg-mime default org.onlyoffice.desktopeditors.desktop application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
xdg-mime default org.onlyoffice.desktopeditors.desktop application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
xdg-mime default org.onlyoffice.desktopeditors.desktop application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation
xdg-mime default org.onlyoffice.desktopeditors.desktop application/msword
xdg-mime default org.onlyoffice.desktopeditors.desktop application/vnd.ms-excel
xdg-mime default org.onlyoffice.desktopeditors.desktop application/vnd.ms-powerpoint

After that, double-clicking any Office file opens it directly in OnlyOffice.

The Rest — Flathub

All remaining apps came from GNOME Software via Flathub:

• Spotify — Music
• GIMP — Image editing
• Xournal++ — Handwriting and PDF annotation with the Surface Pen
• Draw.io — Diagrams and flowcharts

Excalidraw is used as a web app at excalidraw.com — no installation needed, works well in the browser for quick sketches.

App Overview

App	Source	Purpose
VS Code	Microsoft apt repo	Code editor
Obsidian	Official .deb	Notes & documentation
Thunderbird	Flathub	Mail & calendar
OnlyOffice	Flathub	Office suite
Spotify	Flathub	Music
GIMP	Flathub	Image editing
Xournal++	Flathub	Pen notes & PDF annotation
Draw.io	Flathub	Diagrams
Excalidraw	Web App	Whiteboard / sketches

That was the last major setup step. In the next two bonus articles, we’ll cover two smaller but useful additions — a touch-friendly launcher and OneDrive on Linux.