AppImages are a well known and quite popular format for distributing applications from developers to end users.

appimagetool, the tool creating AppImages, expects directories in a specific format that will then be converted into the final AppImage. This format is called AppDir. It is not very difficult to understand, but creating AppDirs for arbitrary applications tends to be a very repetitive task. Also, bundling all the dependencies properly can be a quite difficult task. It seems like there is a need for tools which simplify these tasks.

linuxdeploy is designed to be an AppDir maintenance tool. It provides extensive functionalities to create and bundle AppDirs for applications. It features a plugin system that allows for easy bundling of frameworks and creating output bundles such as AppImages with little effort.

linuxdeploy was greatly influenced by linuxdeployqt, and while it employs stricter rules on AppDirs, it's more flexible in use. If you use linuxdeployqt at the moment, consider switching to linuxdeploy today!