What are AppImages and how do you use them on Linux? This unique format for distributing Linux applications keeps it simple — mostly.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Linux had a bad reputation for not having a large enough app ecosystem. Twenty-plus years later, that complaint no longer holds water.
Linux has several viable routes to installing tons of applications. There’s every distribution’s built-in package manager, such as apt (Debian-based), dnf (Fedora-based), zypper (SUSE-based), and pacman (Arch-based). There are also universal package managers (Snap and Flatpak packages) and you can also install them from the source.
Another method for installing apps is called AppImage. It’s a unique format for distributing Linux applications. Apps don’t depend on any specific distribution or desktop environment, require installation, and can be run without admin privileges. In other words, you download the AppImage for an application and run it. That’s it.
Well, sort of — as there’s another step to take before you can run the application, which is part of what I want to talk about. But first, let’s find out more about AppImages.
