AppImage
Filename extension |
.AppImage |
---|---|
Software installation | |
Open format? | Yes |
Free format? | Yes |
Website | appimage |
AppImage (formerly known as klik and PortableLinuxApps) is an open-source format for distributing portable software on Linux. It aims to allow the installation of binary software independently of specific Linux distributions, a concept often referred to as upstream packaging. As a result, one AppImage can be installed and run across Ubuntu, Arch Linux, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux without needing to use different files. It aims to be a format that is self-contained, rootless, and independent of the underlying Linux distribution.[1]
Released first in 2004 under the name klik, it was continuously developed, then renamed in 2011 to PortableLinuxApps and later in 2013 to AppImage. Version 2 was released in 2016.
History
AppImage's predecessor, klik, was designed in 2004 by Simon Peter.
Simon Peter started a successor project named PortableLinuxApps with similar goals around that time.[5] The technology was adopted, for instance, by the "portablelinuxgames.org" repository, which provided hundreds of mostly open-source video games.[6]
Around 2013, the software was renamed again from portableLinuxApps to AppImage; the license became the
In 2016, Version 2 of the AppImage specification was drafted. Version 2 is unrestricted in filesystem type (a draft implementation used SquashFS).[8][9] It removes the fixed offset for where the filesystem image begins in the file and enabled digital signatures to be embedded directly in the AppImage as opposed to as a separate file.
Design
AppImage aims to be an application deployment system for Linux with the following objectives: simplicity,
Each file is self-contained; it includes all
AppImage allows the embedding of digital signatures, which need to be verified externally. The format does not require signatures to be validated, only that they may be included.[12] AppImage does not enforce sandboxing, but it may be done by some applications.[13]
Reception and usage
In 2007, Klik was the inspiration for Alexander Larsson's glick project, the precursor of Flatpak.[14]
In 2015,
See also
- Autopackage – Linux package management system
- List of Linux package management systems
- List of portable application creators
- ROX Desktop – Desktop environment for X Window System
- Snap (software) – Software deployment system for Linux by Canonical
- Zero Install
- App (file format) – A HarmonyOS application that makes use of similar principles
References
- ^ Mobily, Tony (2006-04-07). "Free Software Magazine interview with Simon Peter". Free Software Magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-03-30. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
- slashdot.com. 15 January 2005.
- ^ Screen capture video of Klik2 on video.google.com (archived)
- ^ "klik - Linux Software Download". Archived from the original on 2007-06-26.
- ^ Peter, Simon (2010). "AppImageKit Documentation 1.0" (PDF). PortableLinuxApps.org. pp. 2–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
- ^ "Portable Games for Linux".
- github.com. 19 November 2021.
- ^ "AppImage/AppImageSpec". GitHub. 18 November 2021.
- ^ "The future of AppImage: Type 2 and new tools". AppImage. September 15, 2016.
- ^ AppImage: Linux apps that run anywhere on youtube.com by Simon Peter (June 2016)
- ^ Peter, Simon. "AppImageKit Documentation" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2011-08-03.
- ^ "Signing AppImages — AppImage documentation". docs.appimage.org. Archived from the original on 2019-10-29. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
- ^ Peter, Simon (2020-09-20). "AppImage Mythbusting" (PDF). GitHub. p. 17. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ^ "Experiments with runtime-less app-bundles – Alexander Larsson". 2007-08-07. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- Google Plus. Archived from the originalon 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- Google Plus. Archived from the originalon 2017-04-09. Retrieved 2024-01-18.