Post · bonfire.cafe

@rolle@mementomori.social · 5 months ago

AppImage is a frustrating invention for Linux. It should work like macOS's .app, but it falls short. Getting an app to run and dock always involves tinkering and manually deploying a .desktop item, among other hassles.

I wish I had known about Gear Lever for Gnome earlier. https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/07/gear-lever-appimage-app-for-gnome

Gear Lever makes updating AppImage apps much easier. I prefer .deb packages, but too many apps don't offer them.

Source code: https://github.com/mijorus/gearlever

#Linux #AppImage #Apps #OpenSource

Gear Lever screenshot, Installed applications: Beekeeper Studio Ultimate (4.6.4), FreeYourMusic, NextCloud Desktop. Check updates button.

aulis

@aulis@mementomori.social replied · 5 months ago

Eva Mikkonen

@evamik@uwu.mikkonen.com replied · 5 months ago

@aulis @rolle Jos pakettia ei oo jostain syystä niin PKGBUILDit yleesä löytyy ja joku maintainaa niitä

Nazo

@nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social replied · 5 months ago

@rolle I assume you know about Flatpak, right?

Still not quite as self-contained as one might wish, but at least it isn't the hot mess that appimage packs are.

My dream is something like Docker containers, but not quite that extreme and without the bloatware to manage and run them.

Roni Rolle Laukkarinen

@rolle@mementomori.social replied · 5 months ago

@nazokiyoubinbou https://mementomori.social/@rolle/114774122924754066

Nazo

@nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social replied · 5 months ago

@rolle Ah. Flatpak isn't really truly isolated though. Its default true sandboxing is limited mostly to its own base. That provides very limited isolation which has its downsides security/etc-wise, but has the advantage that it has pretty direct access to the system. That's one of the things I do like about Flatpak since, as you say, complete isolation can be a pain to deal with. (That's one reason I don't want full VM stuff.)

If you have something that is configured to be almost completely isolated so it's doing weird mounts to get to locations, all you have to do is run Flatseal or the command line and grant it direct access to the folders you want it to use (or even system if you don't care about the security -- though a few like Steam may refuse to run with full system access.)

George Ellenburg (he/him/his)

@gme@bofh.social replied · 5 months ago

@nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social @rolle@mementomori.social
Sounds like what you really need is the approach that Qubes takes. Put each app in its own mini self-contained VM.

https://forum.closednetwork.io/t/qubes-template-vs-app-vs-disposable-vs-standalone/92

https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/architecture/

Bocchi the Ryu :archlinux:

@ryusei@techhub.social replied · 5 months ago

@rolle

AppImage is a format I really want to love, but it's unfortunately not what it could be. I hear it has to do with the main developer, but I'm not knowledgable enough to speak on it.

Maria Carole

@MariaCalendula@mementomori.social replied · 5 months ago

@rolle Otan muistiin. Mun Nextcloudini toimii valitettavasti saumattomasti vain appimagena... 🤷

Ilkka Tengvall

@ikkeT@mementomori.social replied · 5 months ago

@MariaCalendula @rolle suosittelen flatpakejä. Asentuu menuihin ja päivittyy nätisti.

scops

@scops@social.tchncs.de replied · 5 months ago

@rolle the #OpenPandora has it's own image format like #AppImage called PND. For the successor there is DBP... nevertheless PND works like a charm; download an image to one of the default application folders and it gets automatically integrated in the menu, to the desktop... I wish someone would adopt this workflow to other platforms.

Some stuff to read about PND and how it works: https://pandorawiki.org/Introduction_to_PNDs

13 barn owls in a trenchcoat

@HauntedOwlbear@eldritch.cafe replied · 5 months ago

@rolle This. Changes. Everything.

Roni Rolle Laukkarinen

@rolle@mementomori.social replied · 5 months ago

@HauntedOwlbear Glad you found it helpful.

Schnur :fediverse:

@schnur@mementomori.social replied · 5 months ago

@rolle Yeah, I don't like AppImages either. Those provided by the packet manager are usually the best!

David Fleetwood - RG Admin

@reflex@retrogaming.social replied · 5 months ago

@rolle I've used Gear Lever for a while, but unfortunately the lead of the Appimage project refuses to update for Fusev3 so eventually support for the format will end in most distros as Fusev2 is considered unmaintained and a potential security vuln. I know Fedora has been discussing dropping it.

That said, Flatpaks are nice these days and my preferred format. I avoid .rpm/deb/etc as installing apps with root permissions is poor security.

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