#Ubuntu How to Install from AppImage for noobs

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

chilly mesa
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Subject line is clear. What is, in your estimation, the best way to process or install image files for programs you wish to install?

Windows world: double click, click next, done.

Ubuntu: ?

Logic action 1: Double click the file. No.
Logic action 2: Navigating to the folder and attempting to execute it as an admin. No.
Logic action 3: Google suggests downloading a program called Fuse? Is this necessary? This seems like overkill. Install a program to install a program? Really? Or is this the only way?

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cursive plinth
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to run an executable file you need to reference it directly with path/to/file. In this case since its in your Downloads you can just use ./Obsidian*. . refers to the current directory you are in and after it. AppImage doesnt need to be installed, it is the whole program within the AppImage, so you can just run it and it should work fine.

chilly mesa
# cursive plinth to run an executable file you need to reference it directly with `path/to/file`....

Cool. So I can type in the path to expedite getting to the file. So basically you have to have terminal on board all the time to do all these side actions with your day to day is what I gathering as a Linux user. Or atleast this is what I'm learning to be regular practice within these system primarily for security reasons.

Can you explain just run it

I clicked it, I did the 'sudo' word thingy before typing filename in it's respective directory - both in attempts to just run it and failed.

How do I just run it

cursive plinth
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You should be able to run it without sudo. Could you show the output of you running the command ls and then trying to run the AppImage itself?

chilly mesa
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Here's a perfect example of exactly why I want such an editor. I'm working on a solution for a project. Wrote it out in Ubuntus text editor into Discord. Looks f@#$king terrible. Looking to simply copy and paste my questions: Not copy, paste and edit everything again afterwards while accidentally pressing enter multiple times (as I've been conditioned to do so since birth).

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chilly mesa
cursive plinth
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can you try ls -l ./Obsidian*?

chilly mesa
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If I understand this correctly - Owners, groups and individuals do not have execution capabilities, am I correct in my thinking? I'm fresh off of learning about Chmod....

cursive plinth
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I see, the issue is that it doesn't have execute permissions, to enable them run chmod 775 Obsidian*

cursive plinth
chilly mesa
cursive plinth
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can you try sudo apt install fuse?

latent whale
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wait

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is Appimage the best way to do this?

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There's also a Snap

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And I'd bet that there's a deb package available through apt as well

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dammit Ubuntu. There's not, only a snap. But sudo snap install obsidian --classic should get you the app integrated with your system so that you can launch it from the app menu without any extra fuss

chilly mesa
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yes, I can and I will in a minute. More importantly, what's good practice here?

Objective: install program from the internet for Ubuntu

I'm really at a loss for what to do next time and I feel this is more important then anything else. If I have to spend so much time and posts to so something so basic as install a program on Linux - I can see why people still gravitate towards windows.

Windows: Double click done.

Linux: Your Saturday afternoon figuring out how to install the file.

And while I'm certainly grateful for you assistance I wonder what a good formula or system moving forward with respect to installing programs? Meaning that when you install a program on Ubuntu (in an effort make the process seamless, easy, etc.) thou shall:

-> always download to a specific spot?
-> always check file permissions?
-> always do X?

What I"m trying to avoid is this exact same problem in the future moving forward.

cursive plinth
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the first thing you could do is check if your package manager has the program, just search something like install X on ubuntu

latent whale
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Linux has a concept of package management that is fundamentally different from Windows. Apps-downloaded-from-the-internet is not the norm. Most software will be packaged for you by your distribution, so it can be installed with apt, and updated all at once when you do system updates.

cursive plinth
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if there is none, then you can look for AppImages, Flatpaks and Snaps. They all contain the program with all of its dependencies and after you install their respective runner, everything should work out of the box.

chilly mesa
chilly mesa
cursive plinth
chilly mesa
chilly mesa
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f@#k. The irony. lol. Seems simply enough now....

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cursive plinth
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well you also needed to download fuse, so i guess they missed a step lol

latent whale
# chilly mesa Nice to see you chime in here (to be honest) after that assistance with that chm...

You're doing great. You've just waded into one of the great Linux schisms. Everyone is going to have an opinion on the native/container/snap/flatpak/appimage debate. On Ubuntu, snaps are present by default, so when you can't get a native package, that's gonna be the first place to look. Appimages are supposed to always work after you chmod +x, but you just saw, you then have to wedge it into your workflow somehow. Either by launching from the terminal, or crafting a custom .desktop file to put in ~/.local/share/applications.

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I have a group chat in discord called Notes with only me as a member. Discord bugs me every time I go to it to invite people, but it's a great place for testing 🙂

cursive plinth
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at this point ive used markdown so much over the last 4 years that i know all of the basics off the top of my head

chilly mesa
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Question: I went to start this today and I didn't know what to do. Do I have to log into terminal, painstakingly navigate around my unfamiliar folders and google how to start this program every time? It's fun chatting with you guys but I finding a f*^%ton of wasted time figuring out basic things like starting a program easily - or is this the expected/linux/easy way?

latent whale
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I like to put executables that I manage myself into ~/.local/bin, which has been added to my PATH variable. Then I can launch it by name from any directory in the terminal. For something like this, I would also create an Obsidian.desktop file in ~/.local/share/applications that points at the binary in .local/bin. Then it will show up in your app menu.