"AM" 6.15

Various improvements and bugfixes

Now option "-f" or "files" shows if Appimages are sandboxed or not

The AppImages for which the sandbox has been enabled will appear in the list with a symbol "🔒" next to the type. By @Samueru-sama

In case ~/.local/bin is not in $PATH, "AppMan" asks you if you wish to add it or not

Previously, AppMan applied the patch directly, giving ~/.local/bin the right priority. Now it is no longer necessary. The user will be able to choose if it is not available. By @Samueru-sama

The installation script for LibreOffice has been improved with 12 references to choose

Also added "basic", for English/American users only.

Also, allow "LibreOffice" to be updated with both "zsync" and "versions comparison" methods. This is important for users that have converted their AppImage to a Type3 one (option "nolibfuse").

Other changes

• Implemented an option "--disable-sandbox" also in "AM"/"AppMan", by @Samueru-sama
• Fixed an issue with "-i" or "install", where failed installations where keeping move on
• Fixed "update + conversion" for AppImages converted from Type2 to Type3 with the option "nolibfuse" , by @Samueru-sama
• Improved new templates for archives and AppImages, by @Samueru-sama
• the installation scripts now available for the x86_64 architecture are 2092, equal to approximately 2000 AppImage packages.

I hope I have not forgot anything.

What's Changed

Full Changelog: 6.14...6.15

"AM" 6.14

Greater freedom in sandbox permission choices

@Samueru-sama's tireless work makes this command line look more and more like a "Flatseal" for AppImages:

• Added more XDG directories to select;
• Free choice of directories to authorize;
• Improved Bubblewrap support via "Aisap" for non-systemd distributions.

simplescreenrecorder-2024-06-21_17.25.05.mkv.mp4

Don't let the few commits fool you!

Making the most of the existence of AppImages as a software package format, extracting all the hidden characteristics from them, highlighting their potential... is the purpose for which this project was born!

Far too many developers have abandoned AppImage in favor of more "convenient" solutions to maintain, and far too many people have demonized AppImage packages, highlighting only taboos and defects that we, with this project, are trying to erase!

Sandboxing is one of them, and every improvement we make by supporting the AppImage format is a punch in the face of skeptics!

Full Changelog: 6.13...6.14

"AM" 6.13

Major improvements aimed at speeding up the addition of new apps

At this moment the database contains 2059 installation scripts for the x86_64 architecture, which is equivalent to approximately 2050 programs, of which at least 1900 are AppImage packages!

And with this release, the number is destined to increase more and more, guaranteeing our users the transparency and availability of sources, through the options -a (get information about the apps), -d (download the installation script) and out site portable-linux-apps.github.io.

This release will make it much easier for us all to upload installation scripts for archived programs and standalone binaries (option "-t" or "template", select "2").

Option "-t", template for the selection 2 (archives, scripts and various programs)

The new script already incorporates support for 7z, tar and zip archives, and can also be used to install AppImage packages that do not require launchers. In fact, adding a launcher for this template is optional. The icon must be downloaded via a URL, which if not available, will be replaced by the icons available on portable-linux-apps.github.io.

In the example, we create a script for OBS Studio AppImage, complete with a custom launcher, and without an icon:

simplescreenrecorder-2024-06-21_06.19.31.mkv.mp4

Thanks to @Samueru-sama for all the help!

Option "-t", templates for the selection 1 (build Appimages on-the-fly)

Also fixed issues in the two templates available for the selection 1, those needed to build AppImages on-the-fy!

In this example, we build Abiword AppImage from Debian:

simplescreenrecorder-2024-06-20_17.16.53_edit.mkv.mp4

NOTE, to work with pkg2appimage and appimagetool is needed Imagemagick installed on your system. These two are Type3 AppImages, so you don't need "libfuse2" to use them.

Code refactoring

Additionally, the "template.am" module, the templates in use and 60+ new installation scripts have been refactored.

Full Changelog: 6.12.1...6.13

"AM" 6.12.1

AppImage sandboxing improvement!

You decide which directories to whitelist, in your language!

This release is the continuation of version 6.12, with varius improvements to the option "--sandbox".

As already mentioned in the previous version, "Aisap" is a frontend for Bubblewrap which is aimed at sandboxing AppImages. Visit github.com/mgord9518/aisap for more information.

"AM"/"AppMan" implements "Aisap" to create and manage sandboxes... and this release is a huge step forward in this regard!

Now AppImages can not only run in the sandbox, but they now have a more consistent appearance with the system, and the sandbox is no longer a limitation:

• integration of configuration files for system themes and user's defaults;
• greater mastery of the sandbox;
• interaction with the command line interface to authorize access to the XDG directories that you choose.

Brief syntax summary

To enable the sandbox:

am --sandbox $APP

or

appman --sandbox $APP

To disable the sandbox:

$APP --disable-sandbox

In the video we will use "Baobab" (GTK3 version), a disk space analyzer, available in the database as "baobab-gtk3", and giving it read/write permissions only in "Video" (the Italian for "Videos").

simplescreenrecorder-2024-06-20_01.59.00.mkv.mp4

While it's not quite the same as interacting with Flatseal for Flatpak, our project, completely based on SHELL, aims to make the user experience as friendly as possible.

Thanks @Samueru-sama for the hard work!

---

Among other things:

• fixed a bug in "template.am"
• 2050+ installation scripts for the x86_64 architecture are now available.

---

Find out everything you need to know about "AM" and "AppMan"!

Outside of the CLI itself, a lot of work in this repository has been done on rewriting the README, now all guides are updated and simplified, improving navigation between the various guides available, and almost all sections have a demonstration videos for each topic.

The new README aims to be as exhaustive as possible for both "AM" and "AppMan", also including the related installation guides.

For any improvements to be made, contact me via issue or open a pull request.

---

Full Changelog: 6.12...6.12.1

"AM" 6.12

Better sandboxing method for your AppImages!

Dropping Firejail for "Aisap", Bubblewrap frontend

Since version 5.3 you can use the --sandbox option to run AppImages using a sandbox, but from now Firejails has been dropped in favour of "Aisap", a Bubblewrap frontend for AppImages. The now obsolete --firejail option has been removed as well.

This method works as follows:

am --sandbox $APP

or

appman --sandbox $APP

• if the "aisap" package is not installed, you will be asked if you want to install it via "AM"/AppMan;
• requires replacing the symlink in $PATH with a script;
• to work, the Appimage will be set to "not executable", and the AM-updater will also have its chmod command set to a-x instead of a+x.

The default location for the sandboxed homes is at $HOME/.local/am-sandboxes, but that location can be changed by setting the $SANDBOXDIR env variable.

To restore the use of the AppImage without sandbox, you need to run the application command with the "--disable-sandbox" option:

$APP --disable-sandbox

Scenario, you've installed "Anydesk" and you want it to be sandboxed as first, but "Aisap" is not installed, so the new --sandbox option prompts if you want to install it before. In this video I anso enable/disable the sandbox for both Anydesk and Lxtask:

simplescreenrecorder-2024-06-15_20.15.46.mkv.mp4

NOTE, "AM" users will need to use the root password to replace the symlink in $PATH with the script, while AppMan users will need to close the terminal for the changes to take effect.

For more information aboit "Aisap", visit https://github.com/mgord9518/aisap

DISCLAIM: at the time of writing, "Aisap" is still experimental and the supported profiles are still few compared to the number of applications in this database. For example, in the video above, Lxtask was running in sandbox, Anydesk was not. So not all apps will run in sandbox. A Flatseal-style tool for Flatpak would be needed, but it is not available at the moment. Please support the "Aisap" project as much as you can.

Below are useful links to the official "Aisap" documentation:

• Available profiles are listed at https://github.com/mgord9518/aisap/tree/main/profiles
• To learn more about permissions, see https://github.com/mgord9518/aisap/tree/main/permissions

EXTRA: The behavior of this option can be tested in a completely standalone way by consulting the repository of its creator, at Samueru-sama/aisap-am

Thanks to:

• https://github.com/Samueru-sama/aisap-am by @Samueru-sama for the new --sandbox option
• https://github.com/mgord9518/aisap by @mgord9518 for "Aisap"

---

Other changes:

• Fix an inconsistency in "install.am" during patching the installation scripts for AppMan e6f1e27
• Fix a bug with suboption --debug and --force-latest in "install.am" ae3266d
• There are now 2034 installation scripts for the x86_64 architecture available in the database

Full Changelog*: 6.11...6.12

"AM" 6.12-beta

Work in progress to completely drop Firejail support in favour of Aisap to launch AppImage applications in Sandbox via the renewed option --sandbox.

The old option --firejail will be removed.

More details at #663

"AM" 6.11

Improved the option "--rollback" (now also named "downgrade") to downgrade all apps from github

This release overcomes all the limitations of the previous version, also involving apps that can be updated with "zsync".

The URL for downloading apps will be taken from a more specific and no-nonsense list, using the original URLs from the "AM-updater" script used for the update.

Also fixed compatibility issue with new installation scripts.

For the more forgetful, you can use either --rollback or downgrade to do exactly the same thing.

SYNTAX: am --rollback $APP or am downgrade $APP

If you use AppMan: appman --rollback $APP or appman downgrade $APP

In this video, I'll downgrade the package firefox-nightly-appimage from https://github.com/srevinsaju/Firefox-Appimage.

The list take care of all references for this edition of Firefox AppImage, from 100 pages (now the results are "only" 46):

simplescreenrecorder-2024-06-11_19.39.19.mkv.mp4

Also the version file has been changed and the file .zsync is temporarilly renamed withthe extension .old to made the clone of the AM-updater script named "AM-rollback" act to use the "comparison method" instead of the "zsync" one to update/downgrade the app.

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Among other changes:

• through research and reports by @Samueru-sama , problems have been discovered between AppImages converted with nolibfuse from Type2 to Type3 and their .zsync files, so all messages related to this misunderstanding have been updated. Converted AppImages cannot use "zsync" for updating, so we will remove the .zsync files and attempt to update via version comparison;
• introduced a new "template" for installing AppImages, by @Samueru-sama .

NOTE: it is also true that many .zsync files in the hands of the original developers are "broken", and this is most likely due to the automation of certain releases.

In this sense, in the next versions, we will try to introduce an integrity check for these files, in order to notify you which ones are broken, after which you will be the one to inform the developers of this problem.

Full Changelog: 6.10.4...6.11

"AM" 6.10.4

Improved option "-q" or "query"

• added new suboption "--pkg" to search for more than one package in the list, highlighting it with a color;
• improved the code in keyword search and exceeded the limit of 10 keywords;
• removed line length limit.

This release wont be possible without @Samueru-sama : thank you again!

---

Among other changes, fixed a bug in "-f" if no application is installed (for example in AppMan, on first start).

---

Full Changelog: 6.10.3...6.10.4

"AM" 6.10.3

You can now see the overall size of your installed apps

Option -f, it is now possible to monitor the total size of applications managed by "AM" and "AppMan".

Ever since DistroTube pointed this out to me in its review a year ago, I've applied the logic that if a directory doesn't contain a file named "remove", the directories aren't included in the count. Using the same mechanism, it is also possible to monitor the variation in dimensions.

In this example, I try to move the Libreoffice's "remove" script or I try to duplicate the "libreoffice" file to make the directory appear much larger than it should be. Note the change in overall sizes:

simplescreenrecorder-2024-06-09_01.15.06.mkv.mp4

This release would not have been possible without the work of @Samueru-sama : thanks!

Full Changelog: 6.10.2...6.10.3

"AM" 6.10.2

Monitor changes in the size of your installed apps!

Now information about the size, type, and version of each app will be listed in three different files before being merged under a single file that will show information about individual installed apps.

This is to constantly update the file that lists the sizes of the applications. They will thus be monitored constantly.

The file relating to the type of app will remain unchanged, so as to avoid slowdowns, the same goes for the file that lists the versions (with the exception of self-updating applications, for example Firefox and Thunderbird).

In the example, here we have "chromium" installed with "AppMan":

• the old sizes are indicated in the blue rectangles;
• the large green rectangle in the center indicates the AppImage launched from the terminal and which uses a .home directory previously created with the option -H, so as not to disperse the dotfiles in the user's $HOME;
• in the red rectangles there is a change in size after using the app.

What's Changed

• Monitor changes in the size of your installed apps! by @ivan-hc in #631

Full Changelog: 6.10.1...6.10.2