[feature request] ffs appimage

[+ffsuser+]

will there ever be a linux appimage version of feefilesync in the future?

see https://appimage.org/ for more details on this format and its advantages.

[bgstack15]

How do you feel about FlatPak? https://github.com/flathub/org.freefilesync.FreeFileSync

I don't know how to use or install a flatpak, but somebody has been maintaining one, for the most part.

[+ffsuser+]

i don't use flatpak nor snaps myself, as it is a different philosophy standing behind. you need to install additional software, a daemon is running in the background, statistics are collected and fetched (not sure about flatpak).

with appimages, you get a portable software version packaged as one file, configs can be stored alongside in an etxra folder. you can carry your tools on an usb stick, as they will run straight forward on any linux distri. that's it. easy, compact & free of hassles.

really wished, that all developers would jump on that smart train... in fact, many do so already ;)

[Zenju]

That's basically the kind of Linux package that FFS is shipping already, isn't it?

[+ffsuser+]

not quite, as it is not truly portable out of the box and missing these features, see https://github.com/AppImage/AppImageKit/wiki


Just one format for all major distributions
Works out of the box, no installation of runtimes needed
No root needed
One app = one file = super simple for users
Optional(!) desktop integration with appimaged
Binary delta updates, e.g., for continuous builds (only download the binary diff) using AppImageUpdate
Can GPG2-sign your AppImages (inside the file)

[Zenju]

It seems to me that FFS already has these:

Just one format for all major distributions
Works out of the box, no installation of runtimes needed
No root needed
One app = one file = super simple for users (= just one tar.gz to extract)

but not these:

Optional(!) desktop integration with appimaged
Binary delta updates, e.g., for continuous builds (only download the binary diff) using AppImageUpdate
Can GPG2-sign your AppImages (inside the file)

[+ffsuser+]

It seems to me that FFS already has these:

Just one format for all major distributions
Works out of the box, no installation of runtimes needed
No root needed
One app = one file = super simple for users (= just one tar.gz to extract)

you are right about points 1-3, but to me it makes a big difference, if you have to take care of one file only when updating (not even necessary if you take the appimageupdate approach + delta updates) in a filestructure as simple and consolidated as that:

ffs.appimage (binary)
ffs.appimage.config (folder)

all configs & settings will be stored separately in the extra folder alongside the binary, making ffs truly portable & desktop agnostic (which is not the case with the given tar.gz).

last but not least, the filesize could probably even be reduced a little further due to the squash-fs format, which is actually the basis for appimages.