[SOLVED] Any portable launcher app for AppImages?

[redlined]

Not sure, maybe I'm missing something.
Are you talking about the traditional desktop layout vs modern layout that was offered in Mint First Steps?
Never used traditional ones, are they advantageous over the modern ones?

yes, and easiest to switch between modern and traditional via that Welcome Screen (reopen from Mint menu). It reset my applets/"spices" to none first time, I stopped doing it after that

if you've not tried traditional, then perhaps worth a check (use vm, save time for resetting daily driver, in case you don't care for traditional;). I wanted to get modern, heck, LM18.3 Cinnamon was my first Linux experience so I thought- no growing pains..but nah, I formed a "traditional" preference in short time, preferring it over modern.

(I confess, my DE is set on modern currently, I do have literal brain/wetware issues and 'spaced it' when recently undergoing backup restore tests and a ton of new fresh installs to get this setup as I am now typing on. I realized I was still on modern after significant time setting up panels the way I want them and have not braved the applet reset concern since).

fwiw, I tend to view modern as a blue-bubbley-iDesktop sort of effect (which I don't care for) and traditional more akin to win2k, before all the pizzazz and rounding and blueyness and soft white/black coloring, and...etc... started creeping into the OS wars. admittedly, much of this is controlled with themes, and edits there, but panel is one that escapes my poking and prodding sort of tweaks and I do not desire breaking my panel, regardless I have a daily /home-configs backup to restore

(ps. your shared taskbar/panel from backwhen experience mirrors my own, by description (aren't we sad?

Had a hunch from your last response.
Will try dconf-editor, in VM first.

always been a tweaker (TLA disclaimer: illegal drugs not included in that confession;). I suppose hacker is proper term, but never has any OS, program, app, etc escaped my drilling into preferences, settings and options (and hand-held guide level cmdline ventures, egads I laugh at my reluctance towards shell/cmdline/terminal now;D).. dconf-ed is just a fun tool, even if for discover purposes alone... VM, safe bet but...where's your sense of adventure?

Thanks.

Welcomed, for sure! I love this level conversation (including "chat", hidden in forum posts, off-topica, even:D) I appreciate your responsiveness and shared interests and even matched enthusiasm for learning this distro (inside and out) and the greater NixWorld at large. Well met, friend!

edit to add: (minor edits for context and clarity, spellcheck might not approve;)

[Mintymandy34]

yes, and easiest to switch between modern and traditional via that Welcome Screen (reopen from Mint menu). It reset my applets/"spices" to none first time, I stopped doing it after that

Hmm, easy to switch, but your applets will be gone.

if you've not tried traditional, then perhaps worth a check (use vm, save time for resetting daily driver, in case you don't care for traditional;). I wanted to get modern, heck, LM18.3 Cinnamon was my first Linux experience so I thought- no growing pains..but nah, I formed a "traditional" preference in short time, preferring it over modern.

I'll try that experience too.

(I confess, my DE is set on modern currently, I do have literal brain/wetware issues and 'spaced it' when recently undergoing backup restore tests and a ton of new fresh installs to get this setup as I am now typing on. I realized I was still on modern after significant time setting up panels the way I want them and have not braved the applet reset concern since).

Wow, you experiment a lot, in a few months or so, I'll start doing that.

fwiw, I tend to view modern as a blue-bubbley-iDesktop sort of effect (which I don't care for) and traditional more akin to win2k, before all the pizzazz and rounding and blueyness and soft white/black coloring, and...etc... started creeping into the OS wars. admittedly, much of this is controlled with themes, and edits there, but panel is one that escapes my poking and prodding sort of tweaks and I do not desire breaking my panel, regardless I have a daily /home-configs backup to restore

So, is the traditional desktop like Windows Classic themes?
I loved the Classic themes, not a fan of Aero or the modern metro look of Win8 (I tried that for months on my friend's comp, my workflow slowed down, I said, "Skip").

(ps. your shared taskbar/panel from backwhen experience mirrors my own, by description (aren't we sad?

Oh, my computer organisation was nightmarish back then.
It felt less like a computer and more like a blackbox to other people.
One of my younger cousins wanted to play in my computer, I let him go at it and went away, he accidentally exited from the game and could never go back into the game, when the launcher was still on the desktop.
He was so mad at me, I made a lot of cakes for him (some of which he initially rejected ) but finally gave me a chance (after realising cakes are tastier than games, maybe? ), and I set up a whole workspace for his games only.
I had moments when I had to switch into an application, one I've not had frequently used, and I couldn't find the launcher and had a brain freeze with a thought, "Wait, what am I doing here?"
Dark days.

TLA disclaimer: illegal drugs not included in that confession;)

always been a tweaker (TLA disclaimer: illegal drugs not included in that confession;). I suppose hacker is proper term, but never has any OS, program, app, etc escaped my drilling into preferences, settings and options (and hand-held guide level cmdline ventures, egads I laugh at my reluctance towards shell/cmdline/terminal now;D).. dconf-ed is just a fun tool, even if for discover purposes alone... VM, safe bet but...where's your sense of adventure?

Tweaker here, too.
Yup, I think, I'll try that in my main system.
I believe in Mint, I hope it can save me from anything. 🥶

Welcomed, for sure! I love this level conversation (including "chat", hidden in forum posts, off-topica, even:D).

Thanks.
About chat, are you talking about Hexchat?
I accidentally opened it for the first time and 100 messages were flowing per a minute.
It asked me to wait for 20 minutes for a question to be answered, I waited 5 minutes( 🥺 Sorry) to understand how things work, felt like a livestream, but chose not to ask my questions there as I didn't learn about the usage there.
Hexchat seems powerful though, will have to learn that in time.

Or are you talking about the chat section in the forum?

I appreciate your responsiveness and shared interests and even matched enthusiasm for learning this distro (inside and out) and the greater NixWorld at large. Well met, friend!

Thanks, NixWorld is great, and I love learning this.
I've heard, Mint doesn't change everything up in the succeeding releases, they take it slow.
I like that.

edit to add: (minor edits for context and clarity, spellcheck might not approve;)

Is that a note to me?
Or a note to self?

[redlined]

So, is the traditional desktop like Windows Classic themes?
I loved the Classic themes, not a fan of Aero or the modern metro look of Win8 (I tried that for months on my friend's comp, my workflow slowed down, I said, "Skip").

As a basic difference (in my brain) that is what I consider it to be, even though Themes (from menu) really controls most all of that and separates different aspects nicely (window borders, icons, controls, mouse, desktop) so really classic/old win look can be recreated, regardless. I did not do too much digging to determine full difference between traditional and modern but do know I didn't care for panel changes (which can also be tweaked and/or removed, like grouped windows, window icons size, squished systray, and such) I just don't like the basic/default of it, but do suppose rearranging it the way I prefer is probably why I spaced it was still modern in settings

I believe in Mint, I hope it can save me from anything. 🥶

I trust in Mint, and knowing self- I believe in backups! which save me from my self (and, if/when, bad dconf-edits;)

Or are you talking about the chat section in the forum?

neither, was a reference to your two threads we been going back and forth on
Hexchat is pretty cool for community irc access, I used to like irc but not so much anymore. Otherwise, for chat I do prefer qTox client (although I totally broke mine recently, need to recompile and build it again). Also using riot.im to access the matrix servers lately, looking at various chat client options to use for that end to end encryption matrix/bridged network.

I've heard, Mint doesn't change everything up in the succeeding releases, they take it slow.
I like that

I like Mint because of that, versus a "rolling distro release" (like Arch, which scares me and requires much better Linux internals knowledge on how to fix things that may go wrong. As I understand it (accurate or not?) the biggest shift in Mint comes with the distro major version change (from 18 to 19), then that first upgrade .1 works out any new bugs, .2 polishes it up even more and .3 stabilizes things for that 'long term support' polished level.
My only real issue is packages (softwares, etc) can lag behind developers releases quite significantly at times (and if desired this is where I depart from norm if I determine the newer has feature I want/need, I will addt-repo or ppa it in, or install dev .deb or appimage (or local compile/build from source), or consider flatpak (which, like appimage, keeps me in the "supported upgrade" zone). but not good practice overall and instead of introduce tons of future supported packages in LM now I am considering to adventure in with Debian (sid/testing and KDE desktop is something I want to try)
on the conservative flipside I'm also looking hard at Kali Linux, specifically to get smart on network and system security (it's a monster Debian base pentest distro and I want to get back to hardening up router and everything my side of it perspective. but it is more locked down, disciplined so to speak, and no (simple) way to add addt-repos nor ppa's by design, so will likely keep it run from usb stick or get back to multi-boot system, adding in other distros that interest but don't do well in a vm.

[Mintymandy34]

As a basic difference (in my brain) that is what I consider it to be, even though Themes (from menu) really controls most all of that and separates different aspects nicely (window borders, icons, controls, mouse, desktop) so really classic/old win look can be recreated, regardless. I did not do too much digging to determine full difference between traditional and modern but do know I didn't care for panel changes (which can also be tweaked and/or removed, like grouped windows, window icons size, squished systray, and such) I just don't like the basic/default of it, but do suppose rearranging it the way I prefer is probably why I spaced it was still modern in settings

The suspense is killing me.

I trust in Mint, and knowing self- I believe in backups! which save me from my self (and, if/when, bad dconf-edits;)

Yes to backups.

neither, was a reference to your two threads we been going back and forth on

Oh, yeah, how did I miss that reference?

Hexchat is pretty cool for community irc access, I used to like irc but not so much anymore. Otherwise, for chat I do prefer qTox client (although I totally broke mine recently, need to recompile and build it again). Also using riot.im to access the matrix servers lately, looking at various chat client options to use for that end to end encryption matrix/bridged network.

Tox, I've used, riot is next.

I like Mint because of that, versus a "rolling distro release" (like Arch, which scares me and requires much better Linux internals knowledge on how to fix things that may go wrong. As I understand it (accurate or not?) the biggest shift in Mint comes with the distro major version change (from 18 to 19), then that first upgrade .1 works out any new bugs, .2 polishes it up even more and .3 stabilizes things for that 'long term support' polished level.

Agreed, Arch looks like raw power, but I feel like it'll be too much power for me. 🥵

My only real issue is packages (softwares, etc) can lag behind developers releases quite significantly at times (and if desired this is where I depart from norm if I determine the newer has feature I want/need, I will addt-repo or ppa it in, or install dev .deb or appimage (or local compile/build from source), or consider flatpak (which, like appimage, keeps me in the "supported upgrade" zone). but not good practice overall and instead of introduce tons of future supported packages in LM now I am considering to adventure in with Debian (sid/testing and KDE desktop is something I want to try)

Yeah, noticed that.
I use some softwares that grow very fast and I would need updates to catch up with the speed.
Quite a dilemma.
Debian will be my end goal, will test Ubuntu Studio some time, a friend of mine uses that and said it's difficult than Mint but has newer softwares and supports latest hardwares.

on the conservative flipside I'm also looking hard at Kali Linux, specifically to get smart on network and system security (it's a monster Debian base pentest distro and I want to get back to hardening up router and everything my side of it perspective. but it is more locked down, disciplined so to speak, and no (simple) way to add addt-repos nor ppa's by design, so will likely keep it run from usb stick or get back to multi-boot system, adding in other distros that interest but don't do well in a vm.

Kali, yes, will try in time.
And how do you setup a multiboot system?
I don't know of any tools in Linux that can setup multiboot from USB stick.

And thanks again for your wholesome response, you sure have a lot of knowledge.

And thanks for these.
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/p/1.html
https://linuxjourney.com/
I noticed them just now.
That second site has great contents, learning by example.
I love it.

[redlined]

I use some softwares that grow very fast and I would need updates to catch up with the speed.
Quite a dilemma.
Debian will be my end goal, will test Ubuntu Studio some time, a friend of mine uses that and said it's difficult than Mint but has newer softwares and supports latest hardwares.

Welcome to the wonderfilled world of Linux (the burger king of Operating Systems, where you really can have it your own way

and do consider, even 'rolling release' sort of app/package/softwares desire can often be met searching for appimage, flatpak, even snaps (easy to add in support for it). Those are the preferred methods, assuring system remains stable and latest 'wares can be added/used. Otherwise latest hardware may be to find modern driver from manufacturer (or community) or maybe can be fixed with an easy jump to newer kernel line, like 4.18.x from our parent Ubuntu (v18.10, we are on 4.15.x from Ubuntu18.04).

Kali, yes, will try in time.
And how do you setup a multiboot system?
I don't know of any tools in Linux that can setup multiboot from USB stick.

Setup computer with multiple OS to boot to is like dualboot, (without windows, or install windows first if desired). as long as the players all respect each other's boot loader then it's simple (which windows is notorious for not respecting anyone, other than windows . If no windows involved then task is even easier as most linux distros will auto-update a "list" you can select from on start/reboots.

for a good live session multiOS usb stick, ugh.... This comes up often for me, locally and in forums. I've got a older desktop I inherited last year with win7 I setup to dualboot with LM19 Mate. At first I was avoid VMs and still had need for win7 for a couple progs I rely on (I've since jumped into the VM world after doubling ram in laptop) and really haven't booted to win7 even for updates in two months. All that to say- the one perfect app I found for setting up a MultiOS live session USB stick, with persistence (meaning changes in live session get saved to stick) is Yumi, from pendrivelinux. Their UUI tool is also awesome, but does the setup for one ISO, not many as Yumi does.

Problem is, it's a windows prog and although it says on site it may 'work using Wine' I don't like Wine (the program, love the fermented grapes type though;). I have yet to attempt running Yumi/UUI in a VM though... so do need to do that because I want to recreate my monster stick (256GB/USB3.1) with distros I want to test drive and play on.

I did attempt many Linux apps to create the setup I want, none worked. I did just come across another (old) dev that may do it, which looks promising, LiveUSB Install and I need to try it soon!
(this is a common example thread in forums on the topic:
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=288126

And thanks again for your wholesome response, you sure have a lot of knowledge.

I'm pretty 'gabby', thanks for engaging with me on these various topics. But you are way too kind to refer to anything I say as knowledge... I get lost trying to wrap my head around what the heck Mint really is (eg. ubuntu, debian, gnome, cinnamon, muffin, lightdm, besides the internals dbus, systemd, resolveconf, etc ad nauseam

I led a pretty structured life (22yrs military) and was sharp as a tack in profession, until combat at the end changed everything (retired 6mo after return from 13mo tour, injured and damaged, 10yrs ago) and I've been humbly attempting to relearn the world since. Biggest frustration is memory issues- immediate/near, short and long term- I have little to none, feeling more like my inner scribe is broke (or still on vacay, somewhere out there:), than dementia- what i tell self anyways

I do love learning, always have, even this past year of Linux when it seems I spend a lot of time relearning the same things I thought i'd already learned the day before (considering that if it don't stick, then no knowledge or real understanding was actually present).

Anyway, any 'smartness' detected about me concerning Linux is a direct result of me just being here and participating with the real experienced and sharing folks in this forum. paying attention both to the details in issue help requests and what these guys are using to drill down and fix things leaves me gobsmacked most times and I consider self more a decent parrot with a troubleshooting shotgun blast hoping no one gets injured from the fallout

And thanks for these.
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/p/1.html
https://linuxjourney.com/
I noticed them just now.
That second site has great contents, learning by example.
I love it.

That first link is owned and maintained by one of "our own" local experts, Pjotr. I started there, and return each time I install. Very well worded and simple to follow.

Linuxjourney is awesome (I'm a life is a journey kinda guy, so I can relate;). If forum signature would allow more such hot links in sig then I'd of included some other faves of mine from that same genre of learning the basics, like:
https://ryanstutorials.net
(esp handy to have: https://ryanstutorials.net/linuxtutorial/cheatsheet.php !!

and- http://linuxcommand.org/index.php
(get his book! html, pdf or print available: http://linuxcommand.org/tlcl.php

learning the basics is another common forums topic- such recent discussions may help point at more resources: viewtopic.php?f=90&t=288202

and this, I think you will appreciate as much, if not more than anything else so far... 3 tools to help with command examples (because man packagename often leaves me dazed and confused, as I try to "man-splain" everything to self and others take a look at tl;dr (good thread on it here:
viewtopic.php?f=61&t=286079
(and try cheat and eg too;)

[Mintymandy34]

Welcome to the wonderfilled world of Linux (the burger king of Operating Systems, where you really can have it your own way

Burger time.
I love the experience here.

and do consider, even 'rolling release' sort of app/package/softwares desire can often be met searching for appimage, flatpak, even snaps (easy to add in support for it). Those are the preferred methods, assuring system remains stable and latest 'wares can be added/used. Otherwise latest hardware may be to find modern driver from manufacturer (or community) or maybe can be fixed with an easy jump to newer kernel line, like 4.18.x from our parent Ubuntu (v18.10, we are on 4.15.x from Ubuntu18.04).

Yes, learning that.
Mint for maximum stability and flatpaks, appimages for bleeding edge.
I learnt redirecting flatpaks to my home directory so I needn't have to include them in snapshots and can put surveillance on them, they grow a lot in size in no time.
AppImages are cool though, can use them with docks now, so it's really cool.
Snaps, I've no experience with them, are they good?

Setup computer with multiple OS to boot to is like dualboot, (without windows, or install windows first if desired). as long as the players all respect each other's boot loader then it's simple (which windows is notorious for not respecting anyone, other than windows . If no windows involved then task is even easier as most linux distros will auto-update a "list" you can select from on start/reboots.

I did setup Windows with Mint in dualboot first, and then got the "news".
Now, Windows is nowhere to be found, not even in VMs.
The only place it has is in one USB stick, as a recovery drive that I think I might never use.
And I would love to clear out that wasted space.

for a good live session multiOS usb stick, ugh.... This comes up often for me, locally and in forums. I've got a older desktop I inherited last year with win7 I setup to dualboot with LM19 Mate. At first I was avoid VMs and still had need for win7 for a couple progs I rely on (I've since jumped into the VM world after doubling ram in laptop) and really haven't booted to win7 even for updates in two months. All that to say- the one perfect app I found for setting up a MultiOS live session USB stick, with persistence (meaning changes in live session get saved to stick) is Yumi, from pendrivelinux. Their UUI tool is also awesome, but does the setup for one ISO, not many as Yumi does.

I've been using YUMI but it doesn't seem to work with Secure boot mode.
Works great with Legacy boot.

Problem is, it's a windows prog and although it says on site it may 'work using Wine' I don't like Wine (the program, love the fermented grapes type though;). I have yet to attempt running Yumi/UUI in a VM though... so do need to do that because I want to recreate my monster stick (256GB/USB3.1) with distros I want to test drive and play on.

Yup, I've plans for that monster stick too.
Linux world is huge, I want to try atleast 15 of them, in live mode at the very least.

I did attempt many Linux apps to create the setup I want, none worked. I did just come across another (old) dev that may do it, which looks promising, LiveUSB Install and I need to try it soon!
(this is a common example thread in forums on the topic:
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=288126

I'll try this too.

I'm pretty 'gabby', thanks for engaging with me on these various topics. But you are way too kind to refer to anything I say as knowledge... I get lost trying to wrap my head around what the heck Mint really is (eg. ubuntu, debian, gnome, cinnamon, muffin, lightdm, besides the internals dbus, systemd, resolveconf, etc ad nauseam

Same here, I work silently most of the times, but when I start talking I can't help myself to stop.
Mint is great.

I led a pretty structured life (22yrs military) and was sharp as a tack in profession, until combat at the end changed everything (retired 6mo after return from 13mo tour, injured and damaged, 10yrs ago) and I've been humbly attempting to relearn the world since. Biggest frustration is memory issues- immediate/near, short and long term- I have little to none, feeling more like my inner scribe is broke (or still on vacay, somewhere out there:), than dementia- what i tell self anyways

Quite the contrary here, was heavily disorganised.
I can understand your scenario, my father was in the defence, he retired quite early but he used to share stories with us.
I was a kid back then, and I was like, "Papa, you forgot to bring this and that, how Papa, I needed that."
In time, as I grew older I understood his quandary and started to respect him more.
I also have memory issues, I forget faces, routes in no time.
It's pretty volatile, I can process a lot of info at once, but after a day I would've no idea what I had learnt.
I use mind maps to help with those issues.
But, I feel I still have a better situation at my hands than most of the folks I've seen with this.
And a lot of respect for you.
Your sleepless nights ensured our peaceful sleep.

I do love learning, always have, even this past year of Linux when it seems I spend a lot of time relearning the same things I thought i'd already learned the day before (considering that if it don't stick, then no knowledge or real understanding was actually present).

Same here, I love learning, I use analogy a lot.

Anyway, any 'smartness' detected about me concerning Linux is a direct result of me just being here and participating with the real experienced and sharing folks in this forum. paying attention both to the details in issue help requests and what these guys are using to drill down and fix things leaves me gobsmacked most times and I consider self more a decent parrot with a troubleshooting shotgun blast hoping no one gets injured from the fallout

Nah, you're quite smart, and generous.
Humility is an added bonus.

That first link is owned and maintained by one of "our own" local experts, Pjotr. I started there, and return each time I install. Very well worded and simple to follow.

I've used that site a few times, great content.
Beginners guide to Linux.
Handy tips.

Linuxjourney is awesome (I'm a life is a journey kinda guy, so I can relate;). If forum signature would allow more such hot links in sig then I'd of included some other faves of mine from that same genre of learning the basics, like:
https://ryanstutorials.net
(esp handy to have: https://ryanstutorials.net/linuxtutorial/cheatsheet.php !!

Wow, just wow.
Can't wow less.

and- http://linuxcommand.org/index.php
(get his book! html, pdf or print available: http://linuxcommand.org/tlcl.php

Yup, added.

learning the basics is another common forums topic- such recent discussions may help point at more resources: viewtopic.php?f=90&t=288202

Thanks for that link.

and this, I think you will appreciate as much, if not more than anything else so far... 3 tools to help with command examples (because man packagename often leaves me dazed and confused, as I try to "man-splain" everything to self and others take a look at tl;dr (good thread on it here:
viewtopic.php?f=61&t=286079
(and try cheat and eg too;)

tldr, yup, been using that a lot lately.
It's great.

Do you've a blog you write up somewhere that I could read, you do have a lot of nifty tools and enormous knowledge banks, I would love to get them all.

Thanks again.