Rename the AppImage production tool

[probonopd]

go-appimage currently consists of two tools, one to produce AppImages and one to consume AppImages.

They share a lot of code and are intended to work well together, and be developed in sync with each other in the same repository.

However, the current naming is confusing, since there is an earlier low-level tool with the name appimagetool that has only one functionality (turns AppDir into AppImage), whereas the tool to produce AppImages in this directory:

• Deploys dependencies into an AppDir, including special cases such as Qt, GStreamer, etc.
• Turns AppDir into AppImage
• Automatically creates update information
• Signs AppImage
• Creates zsync file
• Uploads AppImage and zsync file
• Publishes the AppImage via a publish/subscribe mechanism (currently, MQTT) to which the AppImage consumption tool (currently, appimaged in this repository) and application catalogs such as appimage.github.io may subscribe (work in progress; implementation is not final yet)
• ...

in a way as automated and with as little configurability as possible.

It will be the only AppImage creation tool that I have bandwidth to support. All others will be community-based and supported by their respective authors.

The current name (appimagetool) is not fitting.

Hence, we need to

• Find a better name
• Rename the tool

Ideas -- your ideas are welcome

• appimageproductiontool
• appimageproduce
• autoappimage
• appimagegenerate
• appimagefoo

cc @srevinsaju @TheAssassin

[srevinsaju]

autoappimage looks like a good option to me, as it conveys most of the stuff are automated.

[probonopd]

• autoappimagetool

Better ideas, anyone? ;-)

[mihaiav]

• appimage-mk
• appimagemk

[srevinsaju]

• mkappimage

[RazZziel]

AppImageStudio?

I don't dislike appimagetool though, all those new features still fit in this "AppImage power tool" concept
This project feels like a reimplementation of the same tool with additional features, rather than a new tool, so a major version change kinda makes more sense than a name change to me

[probonopd]

Possibly

• low level tool: appimagedeploy: It deploys apps as AppImages
• low level tool: appdir2appimage: It turns existing AppDirs into AppImages

[zevlee]

Have you considered simply appimager?

[ilaicraftYT]

genappimage

[brunvonlope]

Turns AppDir into AppImage

@probonopd Is this issue still relevant? Back in Jun. 2023 appimagetool repo was created (AppImage/appimagetool@789ac98) then AppDir>.appimage coding seems to done only there so far from what I see in the commit history of both projects.

For example, go-appimagetool is reported to have broken appstreamcli by Inkscape guys (https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/blob/master/packaging/appimage/generate.sh?ref_type=heads#L31), which I confirm, and does not support some crucial options like -n to compensate this (if I tried to use correctly)

Could you clarify if that plan to have feature parity with the C version of appimagetool still hold up or today it is a ostracism?

[probonopd]

@brunvonlope I have to admit that this is a bit of a mess.

When I started this project the idea was to eventually retire the C based version of appimagetool.
Since I wasn't able to convince all key contributors to go to Go (no pun intended), it seems like the C based version of appimagetool will not go away soon.

Hence it would probably be the cleanest solution to rename this one. (But then, people have already started to use the Go-based appimagetool and I don't want to break their workflows.)
I still have the plan to backport the more recent developments to this Go codebase, but it might take some time.