are appimages a way to package AND distribute software or just a way to package?

Question

I heard a while back that appimages are only a way to package software, not distribute it; however, if I go to the wikipedia definition:

AppImage is a format for distributing portable software on Linux without needing superuser permissions to install the application.

So is it both a way of packaging and distributing software, or just packaging?

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 26 '22 at 06:30

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There's no point whatsoever in a programmer packaging software unless he or she intends to distribute it.

The AppImage wiki describes AppImages as "downloadable files":

An AppImage is a downloadable file for Linux that contains an application and everything the application needs to run (e.g., libraries, icons, fonts, translations, etc.) that cannot be reasonably expected to be part of each target system.

Whoever told you AppImages aren't for distribution is probably messing with you.

answered Dec 26 '22 at 06:30

MDeBusk

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so appimages have a package manager, appimages have a way to transport themselves from one computer to another? – How To Linux Dec 28 '22 at 09:07
@HowToLinux This is a joke, right? – MDeBusk Dec 28 '22 at 18:24
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@HowToLinux you might be confused about the meaning of the word "distribution". – Marcus Müller Jan 09 '23 at 11:35

are appimages a way to package AND distribute software or just a way to package?

1 Answers1