Portable Linux Apps are standalone applications for GNU/Linux that can (theoretically) run everywhere, also on a USB stick. These applications can be AppImage packages (see appimage.org) or standalone archives (for example Firefox, Blender, Thunderbird...).
The main problem with AppImage packages is that many of them couldn't be updated easily because previously there was no centralized repository that could advice users that a new version was available (unlike Snapcraft, FlatHub or the default and more common repositories you can find on your GNU/Linux distro). This gap is filled by this site, since I built one!
Yes, I've called it "AM" (Application Manager). All the apps listed on this website can be installed, updated and managed through two CLI (Command Line Interfaces) I wrote in bash (being bash the "base" of our GNU/Linux systems). In fact "AM" is also the name of the main CLI I developed, the code is available at this link.
The database of "AM" does not stores packages but installation scripts, the same way the Arch User Repository (AUR) do, but each script points directly to a program ready to be downloaded (more often as AppImage packages, but also TAR/DEB archives containing directories, scripts, binary files that don't need to be compiled), and in some and really rare cases a script can build on-the-fly AppImage packages in a way similar to an AUR helper using pkg2appimage and/or appimagetool.
"AM" is also extensible to all the architectures supported by the Linux kernel (and if the app is available for that architecture). There are installation scripts foraarch64 (or ARM64), i686 (the old and obsolete 32bit systems) and obviously the more common x86_64 (64bit systems). My work on "AM" is mainly focused on the x86_64 architecture being it the one I use normally and the more used in general, so many ARM64 and i686 apps may have been omitted when I wrote the scripts for them.
See "AM Application Manager" on github for more details.
"AM" is a tool wrote bash, it works at system level (i.e. for all the users, using sudo) or in portable mode (to made it work this way, it must be renamed as "AppMan").
You can read the source code from here:
https://github.com/ivan-hc/AM/blob/main/APP-MANAGER
"AM" requires the sudo privileges but only to install and remove the app, all the other commands can be executed as a normal user.
To install a program, launch the command:
am -i $PROGRAM
the program will be installed into a dedicated directory in /opt (according to the Linux Standard Base). This is what an installation script installs with "AM":
/opt/$PROGRAM/
/opt/$PROGRAM/$PROGRAM
/opt/$PROGRAM/AM-updater
/opt/$PROGRAM/remove
/opt/$PROGRAM/icons/$ICON-NAME
/usr/local/bin/$PROGRAM
/usr/share/applications/AM-$PROGRAM.desktop
If the distro is immutable instead, the path of the launcher (the last line above) will change like this:
/usr/local/share/applications/AM-$PROGRAM.desktop
From version 4.3.3-1 there is also an option --user to enable local installation of programs in the $HOME directory using AppMan (jump to the next paragraph).
To update all the apps at once just run the following command:
am -U
To uninstall everything just run:
am -R $PROGRAM
SEE IT IN ACTION!
If renamed "AppMan", it allows you to choose where to install your applications into your $HOME directory. AppMan is also usable as a portable app (i.e. you can download and place it wherever you want) and it is able to update itself, anywhere!
At first start it will ask you where to install the apps and it will create the directory for you (the configuration file is in ~/.config/appman). For example, suppose you want install everything in "Applicazioni" (the italian of "applications"), this is the structure of what an installation scripts installs with "AppMan" instead:
~/Applicazioni/$PROGRAM/
~/Applicazioni/$PROGRAM/$PROGRAM
~/Applicazioni/$PROGRAM/AM-updater
~/Applicazioni/$PROGRAM/remove
~/Applicazioni/$PROGRAM/icons/$ICON-NAME
~/.local/bin/$PROGRAM
~/.local/share/applications/AM-$PROGRAM.desktop
All AppMan does is to convert all the installation scripts for "AM" (that normally must be executed with sudo) in normal scripts that can manage applications in the local folder of the current user. This allows more users to be able to better configure their profile.
You can already download it now to give it a try without installation:
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ivan-hc/AM/main/APP-MANAGER -O appman
chmod a+x ./appman
Visit the repository of "AppMan" on github for more details.
Since version 4.4.2 you can use the --launcher option to integrate your local AppImage packages by simply dragging and dropping them into the terminal (see video).
From version 4.4 it is possible to directly select from a list of URLs the version of the app that interests you most from the main source. Use the --rollback option in this mode. This only works with the apps hosted on Github.
Since version 5.3 you can use the --firejail option to run AppImages using a sandbox (requires Firejail installed on the host).
At first start a copy of /etc/firejail/default.profile will be saved in your application's directory, so you're free to launch the AppImage once using the default Firejail profile (option 1) or the custom one (2), you can also patch the .desktop files (if available) to in sandbox-mode always (options 3 and 4). You can handle the custom firejail.profile file of the app using vim or nano using the option 5 (the first selection is vim).
Options 1, 2 and 5 are continuous to let you edit the file and test your changes immediately. Press any key to exit.
NOTE: once patched the .desktop files (options 3 and 4), they will be placed in ~/.local/share/applications, this means that if you have installed apps using AppMan, the original launchers will be overwritten.
Since 2.6.1 release, AM and AppMan can create snapshots of all installed applications. A selected program can be copied locally into your home folder.
-b or backup creates the snapshot-o or overwrite allows you to roll back to a previous version of the programAll the snapshots are stored into an hidden /home/$USER/.am-snapshots folder containing other subfolders, each one has the name of the programs you've done a backup before. Each snapshot is named with the date and time you have done the backup. To restore the application to a previous version, copy/paste the name of the snapshot when the -o option will prompt it.
More of them are official programs, others are third-party AppImage packages built from other people (me included), you can see the links to the sources in the application's list (here) or using the -a option of both "AM" and AppMan. If you see an app that steals your data, contains malware or does other bad stuff with your device... please report that app in a github issue and I'll look into it.
sudo), at https://github.com/ivan-hc/AMYou should do a fork of https://github.com/ivan-hc/AM, if "AM" or AppMan are installed you can use the option -t (or template) to create your own script. Just follow the instructions on your terminal, in the end a directory containing all the stuff needed to install the app will be saved on your desktop, upload all the content of this directory on your "fork" and try to merge a pull request, I'll check it and (if everything is OK) I'll approve it. "AM" is open source, like this website. I suggest to start so, in this way we can have both installable apps and web pages to spread to the masses.
Listed here are some of the most common issues related to what is directly linked to the site, for issues related to the clients listed above, please read the reference section in the AM and AppMan repositories.
This happens because whoever hosted the program to download on their own site changed something on the web page, so commands within the installation scripts are no longer able to intercept the download link. Uninstall the application and report the problem at github.com/ivan-hc/AM/issues and I'll try to correct it as far I can.
The reasons can be multiple:
-a (example am -a $PROGRAM) and see if this is a know issue-a or -w)"AM" and AppMan are only a solution to obtain these standalone packages, not a guarantee of support for those AppImages not maintained by me (the list of Appimage packages I've built and I'm responsible on is here).
Besides me, Ivan-HC, other people have participated in the improvement of this site and the clients listed above:
I thank all of you who make my work here possible, giving it meaning!