this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2025
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My personal order:
Repositories > AUR > Making an own AUR package > Making an own package not in AUR > Flatpak > Using an alternative to that application > consider if I really need it > AppImage
Why do you consider AppImages as last resort?
I can understand that in a distro the main repo need to be prioritized to avoid bloat of repetitive dependencies that could happen with a lot of AppImages.
I can't understand why so many people are opposed to it as an supportive role from a practical and complementary perspective.
Mainly because you cannot manage them properly.
Installing from the repos I have pacman, from the AUR I can use one of the various AUR helpers (most of them can forward repo package updates to pacman, so I really have just one command to update the system and all AUR packages).
When making my own packages I usually also put them in the AUR (plus, it is super easy to do make an own package and put in in the AUR) – and from there an aUR helper takes care about updates. Flatpaks can also be updated very easy by just running one command.
So: All of those have a specific location where they install and allow me to start them easily because they put a script/link somewhere in
$PATH. All of those can be easily maintained and updated.Last time I checked, AppImages had none of those. Neither could I easily update all of them on my system, nor is there a dedicated location to place them, nor is there an “unified” (i.e. something in
$PATH) way of starting them. I have to manually check for updates, re-download the whole thing, replace the current AppImage file in an arbitrary location.This is just how I do not want to maintain my programs.