Skip to content

Automatically install desktop integration bits when first run, and don't ask to relocate app #938

Closed
@Pointedstick

Description

@Pointedstick

Right now, when you first run an AppImage, AppImage Launcher pops up a dialog asking the user if they want to install the desktop integration bits and if they want to install it in the applications folder.

This presents some issues. First of all, casual Linux users of the type targeted by the AppImage project have no idea what desktop integration means and have no conception that this is something that could even ever not happen automatically. Linux users are accustomed to this happening automatically.

Therefore: AppImage should conform to that expectation and automatically install the dekstop file, mimetype handlers, etc when the AppImage is first run. Don't even ask. They should likewise be removed automatically when the AppImage is deleted, which already happens, at least in Plasma. :)

Second, asking to move the AppImage to the applications folder is not really very useful because there is no distinct and user-visible "applications folder" on Linux-based operating systems the way there is on macOS for example (/usr/bin doesn't count since it's an implementation detail and not intended to be used directly by the casual user). Creating ~/Applications and then putting it there is therefore not expected or useful, and presents the possibility of confusion: the user opens an AppImage, reflexively clicks "Yes" in the dialog box without reading it, closes the app, and sees that it's disappeared! This is not ideal.

Therefore: don't offer to move it to the "applications folder". AppImages should be installed in an appropriate location automatically by the app store app like Discover; users who download AppImages from random websites off the internet should be expected to manage this themselves.

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    No labels
    No labels

    Type

    No type

    Projects

    No projects

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions