Distribute Affine for Linux as something not AppImage​

[justin13888]

Description

While I'm glad that Affine supports a desktop application for Linux, there is still some room for improvement to make it a more comfortable experience for desktop Linux users.

Currently, Affine for Linux is distributed as an AppImage.

A few obvious drawbacks without exhaustively elaborating too much include:

• Integration with desktop environment either requires manual configuration or tool like AppImageLauncher. Icon also wouldn't be configured automatically
• No integration with display server (i.e. Wayland, X.org) configurations. For Wayland desktops, you have to manually pass Ozone flags for Electron (used by Affine) to force it to render with Wayland.
• Lack of dependency management: This means large binary sizes, slow dependency updates (e.g. Electron version)

While there are many Linux package formats, I understand Linux desktop users is not a particularly large userbase and regardless, the chosen distribution method(s) should require the least amount of active maintenance effort.

I would suggest distributing as a Flatpak and if possible, additionally through FlatHub. As far as I know, this is one of the most streamlined option to bring Affine to as many desktop Linux users as possible. FlatHub is also becoming a centralized marketplace for Linux desktop applications (imagine Google Play Store for Linux)! Having improved Linux support will also be another clear win over Notion itself.

Use case

No response

Anything else?

No response

Are you willing to submit a PR?

• Yes I'd like to help by submitting a PR!

[pengx17]

Thanks for the suggestion! We are working on providing more distribution formats right now and finding solutions for auto update for linux bundles.

[pengx17]

Auto updating for AppImage should now be supported. We are investigating flatpak bundling right now but it may not happen very soon. In the meantime, help wanted!

[pengx17]

Most issues related to AppImage should have been fixed lately (when using AppImageLauncher):

• icons in the file explorer
• icons on the Dock
• Wayland support

[zuhairamahdi]

is there any update for this issue?

[pengx17]

@zuhairamahdi is there any update for this issue?

Yes, the first version of deb/flatpak distribution is wip #8439