Running from AppImage vs. installing with Joplin_install_and_update.sh

Support
1

I have been running Joplin for a while, 1.2.6, now 1.3.18 with only minor problems. I start Joplin on my Pop!_OS 20.04 (Ubuntu-based) system by running the AppImage from a directory of my choosing:
~/AppImages/

Would there be any advantage to running the install script as suggested in the Readme?
wget -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/laurent22/joplin/dev/Joplin_install_and_update.sh | bash

It looks as if this is still running the AppImage, just from a different directory:
~/.joplin/Joplin.AppImage

Does this installation provide GNOME desktop integration? And since autoupdate does not work on Linux systems, would I need to repeat this wget... each time a new version is released?

Can someone please summarize the differences between "installation" and running the AppImage as is?

2

The script is fairly simple. I would encourage you to give it a skim if you have time.
That said, all the script does is

  1. Check remote Joplin version vs. local one, doesn't perform an update if they're the same
  2. Download the AppImage and place it in .joplin
  3. Download the Joplin Icon
  4. Place a .desktop file in the .local/share/applications directory for integration with DE's

The main advantage to the script over installing an appimage (in your case). Would be that you could set up a cron job (or any other scheduler), that would call the script and auto-update for you. Since you're on Pop!_OS it should be pretty easy to add the script to your startup and get fairly simple auto update that way if you're not keen on a scheduled task.
Personally I created an "update_joplin.desktop" file that simply calls the script, which means that I just have to open the GNOME search thing, type "update", press enter and the update is done which is basically as easy as it gets.

Of course the other advantage is that it creates a desktop file for you, but if you're willing to manage appimages yourself you probably don't mind creating the desktop file manually either, so it's not much benefit.

Would there be any advantage to running the install script as suggested in the Readme?

I'd say yes, but ultimately that's up to you.

3 Likes
3

Thanks @CalebJohn. So it sounds as if you confirmed that running the script will integrate Joplin into my Pop/GNOME DE. I have skimmed through the script and basically understand it, although my bash scripting skill is a work-in-progress :slight_smile: . I have a couple of related questions:

  • Once I have installed via the script, can I start Joplin with <Super - A> keys followed by either clicking Joplin icon or searching in the search bar? I use Dash-to-Dock. Can I add Joplin to my favorites there?

  • If I set up a cron job to update Joplin, do you recommend pulling the script from wget ... each time or do you keep a local copy? What do you execute with your "update_joplin.desktop"? I imagine that requires a local executable, doesn't it?

Thanks again.

1 Like
4

Once I have installed via the script, can I start Joplin with <Super - A> keys followed by either clicking Joplin icon or searching in the search bar? I use Dash-to-Dock. Can I add Joplin to my favorites there?

Yes to both

If I set up a cron job to update Joplin, do you recommend pulling the script from wget ... each time or do you keep a local copy? What do you execute with your "update_joplin.desktop"? I imagine that requires a local executable, doesn't it?

I personally keep an up-to-date development copy of Joplin so I just reference that script locally (not much help for others I'm afraid).
I recommend using the wget command. The update script doesn't change often, and there are no planned changes, but if there is a change it's nice to be on the most recent version.
What I would probably do is put the wget command inside a file "update_joplin.sh" and invoke that from a Cron job, or using a desktop file.
I don't think the update script has changed in any way that will matter for you in the entire time I've been using Joplin, so I'll leave it to you to make that decision.

5

Thanks so much for your help! I am very happy with the new setup. I have one small suggestion.

Being new at this, I interpreted this section of the Joplin home page as implying that the direct AppImage download was the way to go. I inferred that the wget ... command to run the install script was an "alternative", i.e., second choice. It is listed in the "Alternatives" column of the table. Maybe that is intentional, but I think some prompting of new users to go with the install script would be beneficial. I think it would improve their overall user experience.

Thanks again.