I like to play with Portable Linux Apps, in particular AppImage packages.
I'm just an enthusiast who likes to write scripts for GNU/Linux, for fun.
I started writing small scripts for personal use, in my free time... and then sharing them here, on Github.
I wrote two bash scripts to install and manage the applications: AM and AppMan. Their dual existence is based on the needs of the end user.
| "AM" Application Manager |
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If you want to install system-wide applications on your GNU/Linux distribution in a way that is compatible with Linux Standard Base (all third-party apps must be installed in dedicated directories under /opt and their launchers and binaries in /usr/local/* ...), just use "AM" Application Manager. This app manager requires root privileges only to install / remove applications, the main advantage of this type of installation is that the same applications will be available to all users of the system. |
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| "AppMan" |
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If you don't want to put your app manager in a specific path but want to use it portable and want to install / update / manage all your apps locally, download "AppMan" instead. With this script you will be able to decide where to install your applications (at the expense of a greater consumption of resources if the system is used by more users). AppMan is portable, all you have to do is write the name of a folder in your $HOME where you can install all the applications available in the "AM" database, and without root privileges. |
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Sometimes my Appimage packages are built from a base of precompiled packages, whether they are in .deb or .tar format it doesn't matter, as long as they know how to work by themselves.
Unfortunately it's not always that simple, so we need to download more dependencies from external packages.
When a program requires multiple external libraries to work, I use two tools to generate my AppImage packages:
- AppImaGen, a script that builds AppImages from Ubuntu PPAs or Debian repositories. The final packages are GLIBC compatible for the chosen Debian release or the previous (not the latest, not the oldest) Ubuntu LTS;
- ArchImage, another script that builds a kind of AppImage package I've named "ArchImage", being them built on top of "JuNest", the lightweight Arch Linux based distro that runs, without root privileges, on top of any other Linux distro. In this way the final package is compatible with all the GNU/Linux distributions.
To recap:
| Name | AppImages base | Efficiency (%) | Stars |
|---|---|---|---|
| AppImaGen | Ubuntu LTS or Debian. | 50% |  |
| ArchImage | Arch Linux. | 90% |  |
This is the list of all AppImage packages I build in my repositories for both "AM" and "AppMan".
| Application | Source / Based on... | Stars |
|---|---|---|
| Abiword | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Aisleriot | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| AnyDesk | Official .deb package |  |
| Avidemux | Debian (Testing, "deb-multimedia") |  |
| Bottles | Debian Stable & AUR |  |
| Celestia (Enanched) | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Chrome Stable/Beta/Unstable | Official .deb packages |  |
| Chromium | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Dropbox | Standalone build for GNU/Linux |  |
| Emacs | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Evince | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Firedragon | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Gedit | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| GIMP Stable/Developer/Git/Hybrid | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Gnome-calculator | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Gnome-Tweaks (EXPERIMENTAL) | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Gnumeric | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Handbrake | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| KDE-games | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| KDE-utils | Debian (Stable) |  |
| Microsoft Edge Stable/Beta/Dev | Official .deb packages |  |
| MPV | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| OBS-Studio | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| ocenaudio | Official .deb package |  |
| Opera Stable/Beta/Dev | Official .deb packages |  |
| PowerShell | Standalone build for GNU/Linux |  |
| qBittorrent | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Rhythmbox | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Sideload | Official .deb package (ElementaryOS) |  |
| Skype | Official .deb package |  |
| SpaceCadet Pinball (AUR) | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Spotify | Official .deb package |  |
| Steam (EXPERIMENTAL) | Official .deb package |  |
| SuperTuxKart | Standalone build for GNU/Linux |  |
| Torcs | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Transmission-gtk | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| Vivaldi Stable/Snapshot | Official .deb packages |  |
| VLC Stable/Git | JuNest, Arch Linux (ArchImage) |  |
| WhatsApp Nativefier | Standalone build for GNU/Linux |  |
| WPS Office | Official .deb package |  |
| Database of pkg2appimaged packages* | Various .deb sources |  |
*NOTE, the last one in the table above is a database containing small random apps and games that you may need. The AppImages contained in this repository are:
| Application | Source / Based on... |
|---|---|
| Asunder | Debian (Oldstable) |
| Audacious | Ubuntu (PPA) |
| Baobab3 | Debian 11 |
| Billard GL | Debian (Stable) |
| CAP Battleship | Official .deb package |
| Chromium BSU | Debian (Stable) |
| Extreme Tux Racer | Debian (Stable) |
| GNOME System Monitor3 | Debian (11) |
| kwave | Debian (Stable) |
| lxtask | Debian (Oldstable) |
| MATE System Monitor | Debian 11 |
| SimpleScreenRecorder | Ubuntu (PPA) |
All of these applications have been built since September 2021, and (if my time will be enough) I will build even more AppImages. Just browse my repositories to find other experimental projects I'm working on. My main workflow is based on the ArchImage method since summer 2023, and I believe I will continue to work this way until a better solution than this is discovered.
I hope you enjoy them!
32-bit GNU/Linux distributions are increasingly rarely used, but this does not mean they should be excluded. If you use Debian Stable for i386 (recommended) or higher, I have created a specific repository for those applications, all manageable through AM and AppMan.
| Application | Source / Based on... | Stars |
|---|---|---|
| 32-bit AppImage packages database | Various .deb sources |  |
The 32-bit AppImages contained in this repository are:
| Application | Source / Based on... |
|---|---|
| Chromium | Debian (Oldstable) |
| GIMP | Debian (Stable) |
| KDE-games | Debian (Stable) |
| VLC | Debian (Stable) |
I have not included them in the main repositories of their 64-bit counterparts to avoid confusion.
| Project | Stars |
|---|---|
| Firefox for Linux, installation scripts |  |
| Flatpak installer, a custom action |  |
| Project | Stars |
|---|---|
| Arch-deployer (deprecated) |  |
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