AppImageLauncher Lite

[TheAssassin]

AppImageLauncher Lite is an alternative way to install AppImageLauncher. It's a no-root-required version that is shipped as an AppImage and can be installed from the CLI.

NOTE: The recommended and most powerful installation method is still to use the native packages! This is just an alternative for people who can't afford using sudo. It lacks many useful features.

I selected the most useful features of AppImageLauncher that can be installed and managed without access to root:

• appimagelauncherd (automatically integrate AppImages in ~/Applications (or any other dir you choose for your apps)
• remove and update helper (manage and update your AppImages from your app launcher via context menu)
• AppImageLauncherSettings (configure AppImageLauncher from a UI instead of having to edit the config file)
• ail-cli (might be useful for people who wish to automate some processes e.g., in scripts)

You can install the AppImage by calling it via CLI with install (and remove it with uninstall).

TODO:

• put proper version number in AppImage filename (CC Better versioning #177)
• test in real world systems

@probonopd @azubieta please test, AppImage available e.g., here.

Fixes #161.

[probonopd]

It just says

me@host:~$ '/home/me/Downloads/appimagelauncher-lite-1.3.1-x86_64.AppImage'
Usage: /home/me/Downloads/appimagelauncher-lite-1.3.1-x86_64.AppImage <operation> [...]

instead of running. As I need to to turn this into an ExtensionImage, how can I use it without the install keyword?

[probonopd]

This probably should be ~/Applications by default, shouldn't it?

[probonopd]

Thumbnail icons are not shown.

Not even in ~/Applications.

I don't know why but when I opened the same directory again a couple of minutes later one of the two now shows an icon:

[probonopd]

me@host:~$ systemctl --user start AppImageLauncher
Failed to start AppImageLauncher.service: Unit AppImageLauncher.service not found.
me@host:~$ systemctl --user start appimagelauncher
Failed to start appimagelauncher.service: Unit appimagelauncher.service not found.

As a user, I would not understand why it is called appimagelauncherd if the application is named AppImageLauncher.

[probonopd]

I do not understand what this checkbox does. What does AppImageLauncher do without this checked, and with this checked?

[probonopd]

Is AILL using appimagelauncherfs?

[TheAssassin]

It just says
me@host:~$ '/home/me/Downloads/appimagelauncher-lite-1.3.1-x86_64.AppImage'
Usage: /home/me/Downloads/appimagelauncher-lite-1.3.1-x86_64.AppImage [...]
instead of running. As I need to to turn this into an ExtensionImage, how can I use it without the install > keyword?

Help text has been fixed already, but forgot to push. Dunno how your weird ExtensionImages work. You can just call --install, though -- AIL Lite copies itself into your home and sets everything up upon installation anyway. You can just run this during startup/login once per boot if you like.

Thumbnail icons are not shown.

Might be because we still use libappimage 0.1.x due to stability issues on main branch. Switch is planned for next weeks. That's really a minor thing to add, though. I'd rather settle on stability for now.

This probably should be ~/Applications by default, shouldn't it?

Why the heck is there anything filled in anyway? It should be empty, and use the default value (which is ~/Applications), by leaving it empty future changes would take effect later on.

I do not understand what this checkbox does. What does AppImageLauncher do without this checked, and with this checked?

This should be force-checked cosmetically, actually. AIL Lite's only configuration possibility is the main applications dir path. And that's also nothing you'd have to change regularly.

Is AILL using appimagelauncherfs?

It could, but there is no point in doing so, at least for now. The only purpose of the filesystem is to bypass binfmt_misc, but that's not required here. If we had a AppImage type 3 or 2.1 or something that has their magic bytes in non-offending location, we wouldn't need the filesystem at all. We could just launch stuff directly by calling the linker, which is relatively easy to implement with some ELF parsing (readelf/objdump provide the path to the right linker if asked nicely).

[probonopd]

Dunno how your weird ExtensionImages work.

Exactly like an AppImage, with the exception that they are mounted during boot and stay mounted all the time, and ExtensionRun is executed at boot time instead of AppRun at application launch time.

They are not "weird". They are to the system what AppImages are to apps.

[TheAssassin]

Why not just call --install during boot?

[probonopd]

That'd be an option, yes. Right now I'm just trying to find out how stuff works and what does what. If appimagelauncherfs is not used, why is there a systemd unit file for it in the AppImage?

[TheAssassin]

@probonopd well why not, I didn't invest overly much time to optimize everything to the max. It's not used, as you can see from the AppRun script.

[probonopd]

Any idea what might be missing here?

[TheAssassin]

System doesn't like the magic bytes. Replace them and things will work. Nothing specific to AIL Lite. Please only post information relevant for AIL Lite. I want to merge this. E.g., your SystemImageKit has no relevance for this project (more a nice to have for you, but doesn't really provide information whether AIL Lite does what it's supposed to do).

[probonopd]

As in: I cannot run any AppImages?!

[TheAssassin]

Well, you haven't believed me at least since early 2018 that newer systems don't like the magic bytes at all any more. Many Docker systems were affected already, so we had to tell people to just cripple AppImages by removing the magic bytes.
I've been trying to convince you of introducing a type 3 when it was the time for it and all of this could've been mitigated. Now you might realize the issue, but it's way too late. Really annoying.

[probonopd]

With appimaged it works on the same system

[probonopd]

It still has the binfmt stuff in the AppImage, this hurts when converting to an ExtensionImage. Removing it makes it work for me.

[probonopd]

May I ask that the scanning of the other partitions is added? Then it becomes usable for me.

[TheAssassin]

It still has the binfmt stuff in the AppImage, this hurts when converting to an ExtensionImage. Removing it makes it work for me.

That stuff is not installed in any way! It can't be that. It's impossible!

May I ask that the scanning of the other partitions is added? Then it becomes usable for me.

One thing after another.

[probonopd]

when converting to an ExtensionImage

[TheAssassin]

when converting to an ExtensionImage

Well that's some very special treatment you request. Following your off-GitHub explanations you just overlay-mount the AppImage on the system and hope for the best...

[TheAssassin]

Try the latest build please.

[probonopd]

Taken care of in https://github.com/probonopd/SystemImageKit/blob/d210f327a08b63362e5787876dc279e0b7b6cae8/boot/bin/generate-aill-extension#L90-L97 as well, with that it is running.

[TheAssassin]

I guess you missed 52609f9 then?