AppImage

AppImage
Filename extension
.AppImage
Magic number41 49 02 (3 bytes hexadecimal from offset 8)
Developed bySimon Peter
Initial release2004; 20 years ago (2004)
Latest release
V13.
December 31, 2020; 3 years ago (2020-12-31)
Container forSoftware installation
Open format?Yes
Free format?Yes
Websiteappimage.org

AppImage (formerly known as klik and PortableLinuxApps) is an open-source format for distributing portable software on Linux. It aims to allow the installation of binary software independently of specific Linux distributions, a concept often referred to as upstream packaging. As a result, one AppImage can be installed and run across Ubuntu, Arch Linux, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux without needing to use different files. It aims to be a format that is self-contained, rootless, and independent of the underlying Linux distribution.[1]

Released first in 2004 under the name klik, it was continuously developed, then renamed in 2011 to PortableLinuxApps and later in 2013 to AppImage. Version 2 was released in 2016.

  1. ^ Mobily, Tony (2006-04-07). "Free Software Magazine interview with Simon Peter". Free Software Magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-03-30. Retrieved 2007-05-05.