Download the latest release file from a Github repo

Alfonso Strotgen — Sun, 24 May 2020 22:19:48 +0000

I have a simple post installation bash script for the software I use in my personal computer. I usually do a fresh install of Ubuntu / Pop!_OS for every new major release, so this file comes in very handy.

For the most part, this script consists of the typical sudo apt install ..., but there are some applications that are only distributed in .deb or similar packages. For example, to use Anki, the open-source flashcard program, you have to download a compressed file from their official Github repo and install it from source. To download the latest version, I use the following command:

wget -qO - https://api.github.com/repos/ankitects/anki/releases/latest \
| grep browser_download_url \
| grep amd64 \
| cut -d  '"' -f 4  \
| wget -cqi - -O Anki.tar.bz

To use this command, change accordingly:

Change ankitects/anki for the repo you need.
Change amd64 for the file name you need. In my case, the Linux files in the Anki repo have amd64 in their name. You could use deb, dmg, etc.
Change Anki.tar.bz for the name of the file you want. This is useful when the file name includes the version. I use this for running other commands as a next step, for example, uncompressing the file.

Desktop integration for Tinkerwell (or any AppImage)

Alfonso Strotgen — Sat, 16 May 2020 23:07:05 +0000

If you use Laravel you've probably heard of Tinkerwell. If that is not the case, Tinkerwell is the php artisan tinker on steroids: a powerful REPL that runs your code within local and remote PHP applications, allowing you to tinker with them.

What are AppImage packages

The Linux version of Tinkerwell is distributed in an AppImage package format. If you have not heard of this format before, you just have to know that it is a universal software package format that tries to be distribution-agnostic, i.e. you can use it in most (if not all) modern Linux distributions.

The disadvantages of AppImage packages are that, firstly, you have to give them permission to run, and secondly, every time you want to run them, you have to navigate to the folder where you downloaded the file. That is certainly the case for me when I need to run Tinkerwell.

Integrate AppImages in your system with AppImageLauncher

AppImageLauncher solves these problems. After installation, it will let you execute AppImages with just one click (without having to make them executable). But most interestingly, it will easily (and optionally) integrate the application with your system, creating shortcuts in the application launcher and on the desktop.

Use the folllowing commands to install AppImageLauncher in Ubuntu or go the repo to find more installing options.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:appimagelauncher-team/stable
sudo apt update
sudo apt install appimagelauncher

After installing, just execute your desired AppImage file and choose the option to integrate.

DEV Community: Alfonso Strotgen

Download the latest release file from a Github repo

Desktop integration for Tinkerwell (or any AppImage)

What are AppImage packages

Integrate AppImages in your system with AppImageLauncher