Need portable version of ONLYOFFICE desktop app? Use AppImage

21 July 2020By Nadya

Using a rare or an old Linux distribution but still need powerful document editing? Try our portable desktop editors packed as AppImage.

ONLYOFFICE desktop appimage vs targz

If your distro is obscure but you just love it anyway (or maybe you have an old machine), you don’t need to deny yourself the apps you want to use, that’s why we maintain an AppImage packaging.

About AppImage

AppImage is a portable software distribution format. It’s a compressed image with all the dependencies and libraries needed to run the desired app, so it doesn’t install the software in a traditional way and doesn’t modify your system anyhow. If you don’t need the app anymore, it can be easily removed just by deleting the AppImage file.

AppImage, not tar.gz

We chose AppImage over tar.gz packaging that we previously used to deliver the portable version of ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors to our users.

That is why:
 

  • It excludes problems with dependencies tar.gz used to have.
  • You don’t have to indicate a symlink, you just download the app and make it executable.
  • You don’t have to download an archive and then decompress it as you would do with tar.gz.
How to use ONLYOFFICE Desktop as AppImage
  1. Download the ONLYOFFICE AppImage here.
  2. Make it executable using your file manager or by entering the following commands in a terminal: chmod +x ./*.AppImage
  3. Double-click the AppImage in the file manager to open it.
Security questions

Many Linux users have security concerns when it comes to AppImage. The thing is AppImages are usually not verified by others, so it’s recommended to use AppImages maintained by trusted developers only.

Also, the AppImage developers suggest running AppImages in a sandbox, like Firejail if you want to exclude any possibility of them influencing your system.

Useful links

How to install ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors on Linux Mint. Read now

How to install ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors on Ubuntu 20.04 via snap. Read now

Hot to install ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors using flatpak. Read now

How to compile ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors from source code. Read now