Microsoft Teams is available today for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. Linux users must address the web version to communicate with Teams. Slack, the biggest competitor of Teams, does have a Linux version. Microsoft can therefore not be left behind.
A Linux version of Microsoft Teams has been around for a long time. In 2016 a Teams UserVoice page was created where Teams Engineer Alex now confirms that Teams should be available on every platform. He specifically stresses the importance of Linux users.
Important nuance: Alex’s response is from last month, which means that the Linux version is high on Microsoft’s priority list. He ends his post with Stay tuned for more information soon.
After Slack
At the same time, Hayden notes on Twitter that Microsoft has created an apt repo, but that for the time being there is nothing in it at all.
You can try:
$ sudo apt-key adv keyserver https://t.co/wSQl0svQ9T recv-keys EB3E94ADBE1229CF
$ sudo sh -c ‘echo “deb https://t.co/byJ6y2vUXa stable main” > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teams.list’.
$ sudo apt-get updateBUT there’s nothing in the repo yet.
Hayden (@unixterminal) August 6, 2019
It seems logical that Microsoft is working on a Linux version of Teams. Archenemy Slack has had a Linux version for a long time. It is possible that this will form an important barrier to making the switch to Teams. We believe there is a good chance that Microsoft will publish more news to please Linux users in the coming weeks.
More than 19 million people worldwide use Microsoft Teams, of which more than 13 million use them daily. With this, Microsoft’s chat service surpasses that of its competitor Slack, which has a total of 10 million daily users.
Related: Microsoft Teams is more popular than Slack with 19 million users