Retire the Arch package, document AppImage desktop integration #47

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jknapp merged 1 commits from chore/retire-arch-packaging into main 2026-08-28 20:21:02 +00:00
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shadowdaoandClaude Opus 5 7a5c0c1f13 Retire the Arch package, document AppImage desktop integration
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The `triple-c-bin` package was never on the AUR, so installing it meant
downloading a file and running `pacman -U` — the same gesture as making an
AppImage executable, for a second artifact to keep building. And being
`workflow_dispatch`-only it reached 1 release in 28 (only v0.4.16 has a
`.pkg.tar.zst`), while HOW-TO-USE.md told Arch and CachyOS users to download
it from every release. A distribution channel that is absent 27 times out of
28 is worse than not promising one.

`packaging/arch/` and `.gitea/workflows/publish-arch-package.yml` are
preserved whole on `hold/arch-packaging`, the same way the disk panel and
drag-out work were held rather than deleted. What would make an Arch package
worth having is an AUR account and its SSH key as a repo secret — both
one-time manual steps that never happened; the workflow's own header already
said as much about its AUR push step.

This also closes the gap that prompted the review: nothing validated the
PKGBUILD until someone manually dispatched the workflow, making it the only
packaging path with no CI coverage. Removing it removes the untested surface
rather than adding a job to test something nobody installs.

In its place, `scripts/install-appimage.sh` does what a package manager's
install hooks would. An AppImage carries a `.desktop` entry and icons inside
itself, but nothing on the host reads them, so it never appears in the app
launcher. The script extracts the bundled icons into the user's icon theme
and writes a launcher entry — no sudo, nothing outside `~/.local/share`, and
the AppImage itself is never copied or moved.

Two details it gets right on purpose:

  * The `Exec` line is rewritten, not copied. The bundled entry says
    `Exec=triple-c`, which resolves only inside the running AppImage's own
    mount — a verbatim copy gives a launcher entry that starts nothing.
  * Extraction uses `--appimage-extract`, which needs no FUSE, so the script
    works on a machine where *running* the AppImage would first need
    `fuse2` installed. That requirement is now documented too: Arch and
    CachyOS do not ship FUSE 2 by default.

Verified against the real artifact — the AppImage from this repo's own
preview-3a49a67 release: 4 icon sizes install, `desktop-file-validate` passes
with no warnings, `--uninstall` leaves nothing behind, and shellcheck is
clean.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01ApLYH6ybHwQFkMCtKuHrrV
2026-08-28 13:11:26 -07:00