"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.

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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!

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

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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

"AM" 6.10.1

Improved the option "-c" or "clean"

I assume you all know the difference between "AM" and "AppMan".

The other evening I updated my Chromium AppImage, and after installing it with the command appman -i chromium and after isolating it with the command appman -H chromium not to dirty my $HOME directory with its dotfiles (see module "sandboxes.am"), I finally ran the command appman -f to check if the version that appeared was ok, and... I noticed that the installation had reached 200 MB while it should be ust 140 MB instead. The issue here were that the dotfiles had been distributed in the "chromium.home" directory previously created with the option -H, so the ".cache" directory created inside it was filled, making the whole installation of the AppImage look larger than it should.

From this episode I decided to extend the "-c" option also to all the "*.home/.cache" directories near the installed AppImages, if they exist. And I didn't just add this:

• as I've already said above, now this option will clean *.home/.cache directories of AppImages created with the option -H;
• unnecessary operations are hidden if dedicated files and directories are not in place, as was already the case for cleaning of orphan launchers created with the option --launcher;
• all deleted files from the "modules" directory will be listed one by one;
• also, the cleaning process is faster, almost instantaneous.

Here is a test I've done with both "AM" and "AppMan", by adding a .home directory in Chromium (for AppMan) and Avidemux (for "AM") and some random files in the "modules" directory of "AM":

simplescreenrecorder-2024-06-06_16.40.45.mkv.mp4

Full Changelog: 6.10...6.10.1

"AM" 6.10

Password: inclusiveness!

Since the beginning, the rule has always been the same: the user who installed "AM" owns "AM, and with it all the contents of the /opt/am directory. This resulted in constant error messages for other users of the system, whether privileged or not (see this screenshot) because none have "write permissions" in /opt/am other than the owner.

However, we have an "AppMan Mode", which can be activated with the --user option, so... why not suggest to these excluded users to use "AM" as non-privileged users? Like "AppMan" indeed!

This is the point of this release!

The admin that owns "AM" to enable "AppMan Mode" needs to use the option --user, as always, also its the only one that can update the core script APP-MANAGER in both "AppMan Mode" (option --user) and "Normal Mode" (option --system, always suggested during the use).

Users without write permissions in /opt/am will see a prompt (see the screenshot down below), choose Y or N (default is Y).

The following message only appears to the owner of "AM" while for other users, the use of "AM" in "AppMan Mode" will be discounted.

"AM" is running as "AppMan", use am --system to switch it back to "AM"

Obviously, from now on, APP-MANAGER is also read/write only for the owner of "AM", for security reasons.

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Among other changes:

• fixed versioning in many other applications, adding new checking/creating criteria for -f, -l and other options that use them;
• replaced all references to ".cache" with a single common variable, and functions to make the directory operational and secure;
• added version cleanup/update mechanism for -o option;
• added function to check if an app to be updated is read-only (result of previous attempts on permissions, a series of commits then canceled in favor of this release), useful for future implementations *

* we hope to implement a group in the future whose members can update "AM" and its modules with RW permissions in /opt/am, but for now, the security, updating and oversight of "AM" is in the hands of user who installs/owns it.

What's Changed

• Fix version in the installation scripts "chromium-latest" (the icon too), "inkscape", "inkscape-next" and "nootka" by @ivan-hc in #617
• If version is not in .zsync file, use the last edit date by @ivan-hc in #620
• Replace ".cache" references with the "$AMCACHEDIR" variable / added write control on installed app directories / conversion in functions of the processes to update apps and generate the options list by @ivan-hc in #622
• If "AM" is read-only, suggest using "AppMan Mode" (for multiuser systems) by @ivan-hc in #626

Full Changelog: 6.9...6.10

"AM" 6.9

Reduced the number of modules from 16 to 10

A new module has been added which brings together 4 and therefore includes 8 more or less important options for managing installed apps, and three other modules have been integrated into the main CLI.

NOTE, if the modules removed in this version are missing locally, some options (for example, the one to remove the apps) may not work if you keep using a previous release:

update now!

In the screenshot, the 10 modules that must be present in the "modules" directory (in order from lightest to heaviest), for both "AM" and "AppMan":

New users will have the new configuration directly.

Less are the modules to download, quickier is the full update time:

• New module "management.am" that replaces "remove.am", "no-updates.am", "nolibfuse.am" and "rollback.am", so it includes the following options:

  • '-b' or 'backup', to create snapshots of the applications;
  • '-o' or 'overwrite', to use snapshots created previously (see above);
  • '-R', to remove the applications quickly;
  • '-r' or 'remove', to remove the applications after a prompt;
  • '--rollback', to downgrade installed apps (if a previous version exists);
  • 'lock', to lock the installed app to the current version;
  • 'unlock', to keep update the installed app and previously locked (see above);
  • 'nolibfuse', to convert Type2 AppImages to Type3.

  In brief, all the options you use to "manage" the apps installed from the database.

• The "update.am" and "sync.am" modules have returned to being part of APP-MANAGER, given their "core" importance;

• The "clean.am" module has also been integrated into APP-MANAGER, given its size;

• Removed the five (5) modules "remove.am", "no-updates.am", "nolibfuse.am", "rollback.am" and "clean.am", this is why it is important to update;

• The old "update.am" and "sync.am" modules instead have been retained, to be used by old versions to perform the upgrade, but which will be ignored both in the new installations of "AM" (script "INSTALL") and in future updates (options -s and -u);

• If you have updated now from a previous version, obsolete modules will be automatically searched for and removed starting from the second update;

• Added a header to each module, to briefly explain what each of them does.

This release leads to a slightly faster general update, given the reduction in modules.... but also the possibility of intervening more quickly on single options and on APP-MANAGER itself, given the less dispersive nature of the modules caused by modularization in version 6.

With these changes it was also possible to solve some minor problems, such as updating individual apps that did not show the correct version of the new app, and vice versa, rolling back an app, whose version did not change.

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Finally, I'm proud to announce that, for the x86_64 architecture, our database now includes...

...2000+ installation scripts!

To view all the apps available in the database visit our site:

https://portable-linux-apps.github.io

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Full Changelog: 6.8.4...6.9

"AM" 6.8.4

Improvements in checking installed app information

• it is now possible to fully view the versions of the installed apps;
• improved app classification, in particular in the comparison between "script" and "binary/executable";
• the availability of absent versions or the classification of apps as "other" or "unknown" has been reduced to almost zero;
• where the version is absent, at least the part of the "version" file that is considered most relevant will be displayed (for example a "flag");
• fixed some installation scripts;
• refactored the "files.am" module.

Among other changes:

• fixed an issue related to the "--system" option for "non-AppMan" users, which was inaccessible after starting "--user" for the first time but without configuring AppMan;
• fixed a problem in updating APP-MANAGER in "AppMan mode" by non-privileged users.

Full Changelog: 6.8.3...6.8.4

"AM" 6.8.3

Minor fixes to the CLI, modules and... some installation scripts

• in the wake of the previous version, add a function to check versions of auto-updable apps (for example firefox and thunderbird)
• reconstruction of basic information for installed apps occurs after removing an app or converting it from AppImage Type2 to Type3
• allow the update of APP-MANAGER script in "AppMan Mode"
• fixed missing table title in "-f"
• various bug fixes and improvements

I generally don't talk about improvements to individual installation scripts, but here it is necessary:

• updated and improved the installation script for Filezilla, for both x86_64 and i686 architectures
• now the script to install MPV allows you to choose between two different AppImages, as happens with Libreoffice

Full Changelog: 6.8.2...6.8.3