How to make and install an AppImage of software in other format (deb, flatpak, source)?

[pan4b]

I'm a command line noob, AM noob and Linux semi-noob.

I have been using AM for about two weeks, exploring some of the possibilities and enjoying the ease of use (compared to searching the web, downloading AppImages, making executable, changing directories etc) and the chance to get AppImages and avoid Flatpaks for stuff not in my distro's repos (Linux Mint 22, based on Ubuntu 24.04).

I'd really like to get an up-to-date version of the Falkon web browser (currently 24.12) as an AppImage but the one on AppImageHub is five years old, and Falkon is not listed in AM or toolpack.

And I can find it online only as a Flatpak, a deb or source (I think). I am not sure how/if I can convert one of those into an AppImage with AM. (I think that involves templates/ am -t something?)

Can anyone provide me with an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide to making a Falkon AppImage with/for AM?
Thanks.

WAIT: I think I just found an official script for building an AppImage: https://invent.kde.org/network/falkon/-/tree/master/linux/appimage?ref_type=heads Can I use that? And give the result to AM?
Does it matter that the script is three years old, or will it build from current code?

[Samueru-sama]

First you should try to request Falkon to start releasing an AppImage: https://invent.kde.org/network/falkon/-/issues

If they can't release an AppImage then ask for some portable binary like firefox does.

Web-browsers usually release as either AppImage or portable binaries, it is rare that falkon doesnt offer either of those.

[Samueru-sama]

extraction level 3 (including dependencies of dependencies of dependencies), same issue

I still can't figure out what's happening... btw it is an issue when running with the builtin mesa, plus some qt dependencies I don't know

@pan4b if you can, extract the new AppImage

./falkon --appimage-extract

...and then use LD_DEBUG on the AppRun script inside the extracted squashfs-root

to see if something changes, extract from https://archlinux.org/packages/?sort=pkgname to the squashfs-root/.junest directory when the terminal prompts for missing files and libraries

I don't really know from where come out that failed to create drawable error

@Samueru-sama you too... did you know what's happening?

I can't get the failed to create drawable error since I'm not using nvidia.

Launching the AppImage it opens, but the GUI is missing some icons, it also tries to look for /usr/bin/qtwebengine_dictionaries
and /usr/share/qt6/qtwebengine_dictionaries

I don't see that an issue at Falkon has been opened about the appimage, so I will do it instead.

[pan4b]

It works! The AppImage with MD5: d671a615d489d43d696b83a0ae266f0b.

Downloaded from GitHub release page, gave permission to run and:

~/Downloads/AppImages/falkon$ ./Falkon_24.12.2-1-archimage4.3-x86_64.AppImage
Falkon: Creating new profile directory
The following paths were searched for Qt WebEngine dictionaries:
  /usr/bin/qtwebengine_dictionaries
  /usr/share/qt6/qtwebengine_dictionaries
but could not find it.
You may override the default search path by using QTWEBENGINE_DICTIONARIES_PATH environment variable.
Spellchecking can not be enabled.
Falkon: Python plugin support initialized
Falkon: 1 extensions loaded

And then Falkon started :)

Later, I did:
am -e https://github.com/ivan-hc/Database-of-pkg2appimaged-packages falkon falkon
and that downloaded, "installed" and works, too. :)

I also did a few other things.

~/Downloads/AppImages/falkon$ ./falkon --appimage-extract
bash: ./falkon: No such file or directory

/Downloads/AppImages$ ./falkon --appimage-extract
bash: ./falkon: Is a directory

~/Downloads/AppImages/falkon$ ./Falkon_24.12.2-1-archimage4.3-x86_64.AppImage --appimage-extract
fopen error: Permission denied

"Permission denied", but a squashfs-root directory was created, with files like AppRun.

I did:

LD_DEBUG=libs ./AppRun
LD_DEBUG=files ./AppRun

Again, both produced thousands of lines of output, but both ended in Falkon starting. :)

Been using it for 10 minutes now and no problems. Thank you very much!
Please let me know if you need anything else from me (more debugging info? etc).

[ivan-hc]

well if it is good enough for you, I can submit it to AM

btw what I'd like to do is to debloat it, since I know that appimage I made is rich of unneeded files causing its size increased

if you can list unneeded files and directories that I can remove to made it even smaller, let me know, I'll try to do it even smaller

libLLVM and libgallium are two monsters, but are needed on non-Nvidia systems like yours, to work

let improve this appimage together

[pan4b]

btw what I'd like to do is to debloat it, since I know that appimage I made is rich of unneeded files causing its size increased

if you can list unneeded files and directories that I can remove to made it even smaller, let me know, I'll try to do it even smaller

I have no idea how to do that, but if you can tell me how, I'll do my best.

let improve this appimage together

Sure! Thanks.

PS I've been browsing almost exclusively with the Falkon appimage the last two days (including this post); it's going well but I've noticed a couple of small issues. I don't know if they are to do with the AppImage, or something else (my OS & packages, my settings, Falkon itself etc).

1. The GUI buttons/icons (e.g. Back, Home, Menu, New Tab etc) are missing/invisible. Although I can still use them; when I hover my pointer over where they should be, a button outline appears, and then a tooltip with the button name, and clicking on them works. (The only icon that appears is the AdBlock icon.)
   

2. I can't type things like accents and diareses (even though they are on my keyboard, Spanish - Latin American), e.g. caffè, café, Motörhead. I had to type those in a text editor and copy & paste them here. The Compose key (which I use for £ ¥ € etc) doesn't work, either.

[ivan-hc]

btw what I'd like to do is to debloat it, since I know that appimage I made is rich of unneeded files causing its size increased
if you can list unneeded files and directories that I can remove to made it even smaller, let me know, I'll try to do it even smaller

I have no idea how to do that, but if you can tell me how, I'll do my best.

let improve this appimage together

Sure! Thanks.

it is enough you extract the AppImage, enter the directory wher it is installed and run

./falkon --appimage-extract

then enter the squashfs-root directory and run the AppRun script to use falkon

use baobab or a similar program to see all files and directories that you thik are not needed, by size... then

1. close falkon
2. move temporarily the file/directory you think is not needed into another place
3. run the AppRun again and see if you got errors and if the app runs correctly

• if it works without issues, take note of what you have moved and let me know
• if it does not work, restore the file/directory again and repeat step 1, 2 and 3 with other files/directories

NOTE: keep in mind this kind of thing while you debug the AppImage... or better, this "Archimage"

PS I've been browsing almost exclusively with the Falkon appimage the last two days (including this post); it's going well but I've noticed a couple of small issues. I don't know if they are to do with the AppImage, or something else (my OS & packages, my settings, Falkon itself etc).

1. The GUI buttons/icons (e.g. Back, Home, Menu, New Tab etc) are missing/invisible. Although I can still use them; when I hover my pointer over where they should be, a button outline appears, and then a tooltip with the button name, and clicking on them works. (The only icon that appears is the AdBlock icon.)

the AppImage uses system themes, try to chenge yours temporarily, also try to edit the AppRun and see if something changes

the Archimage mounts some directories, you can read this in the AppRun

bind_dirs=" /media /mnt /opt /run/media /usr/lib/locale /usr/share/fonts /usr/share/themes /var"

you can try to remove /usr/share/themes or maybe add /usr/share/icons to see if it takes effect

let me know this too

2. I can't type things like accents and diareses (even though they are on my keyboard, Spanish - Latin American), e.g. caffè, café, Motörhead. I had to type those in a text editor and copy & paste them here. The Compose key (which I use for £ ¥ € etc) doesn't work, either.

as @Samueru-sama has tould me in pvt, a qt plugin may be missing, and linked this issue to me probonopd/go-appimage#297

for Archimages it is enough to extract the related Arch Linux package from https://archlinux.org/packages/ to the squashfs-root/.junest directory, that contains the filesystem structure of Arch Linux

also here, let me know what package or what file solves the issue