On Linux
As of the 22nd of April 2026 I'm incredibly new to all of this, but I decided to completely switch from Windows to Linux a week ago.
Right now I'm using Linux Mint 22.3 Cinnamon, which is based on Ubuntu, so my commands will differ from other distros like Arch or Fedora. Please keep that in mind!
For the moment I only have a bit of info, but this will be a long thread the more I learn!
Index
Useful commands
Don't be scared of the terminal! It's just a nice box where you can write stuff and make things work with text instead of pushing buttons. It is incredibly useful to do EXACTLY whatever you want to do, and not depend on someone else pre-preparing it for you. So you can completely customize stuff like installations and executables!
But do be scared of sudo, don't use it for everything, as it will completely destroy anything :) I uninstalled a desktop environment with it on my first day!
Install binaries from a tar.gz or .zip
# 1. You go to your downloads directory
cd ~/Downloads
## CHOOSE 2 OR 2.b depending on your format! ##
# 2. This decompresses your files inside of the tar.gz
tar -xzf yourprogram.tar.gz
# 2.b. This decompresses your files inside of the .zip
unzip ourprogram.zip
# 3. This moves your program folder to the /opt folder
sudo mv yourprogram /opt/
# 4. Verify your folder opens correctly!
/opt/yourprogram/yourprogram
# 5. Creating your desktop executable
sudo nano /usr/share/applications/yourprogram.desktop
After this, you have created and opened a new file with the command 'nano', so you will want to write something in it! As you read before, you can do this the way you want it! You can call your Java IDE sugarboom if you want x) You just have to replace the text!
This is what you have to write in your file:
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Your program name
Comment=Your description
Icon=/opt/yourprogram/icon.xpm
Exec=/opt/yourprogram/yourprogram
Terminal=false
Categories=Category1;Category2;
StartupNotify=true
Then save pressing ctrl + o, press enter to confirm and ctrl + x to close. ~/.local/share/applications/ Now you need to give permissions and update it.
sudo chmod +x /usr/share/applications/yourprogram.desktop
sudo update-desktop-database
And, there you go! You have successfully decompressed and installed your binaries!
NOTES: You can delete the compressed files after this if you want! It won't break anything.
Copy files into root folders
Sometimes you might want to move/copy a specific file, like an image, to a folder you don't have "Superuser" permissions for. That means you can't really copy-paste directly, but you can use the terminal to make it quicker.
For example, you want to change your user log-in image but you don't have permissions to access that folder. With this command you will copy (cp) your original file (/home/User/OriginalFolder/YourFile.jpg) to your destination folder (/usr/share/backgrounds/)
sudo cp /home/User/OriginalFolder/YourFile.jpg /usr/share/backgrounds/
Create custom desktop executables for AppImages
So, you have downloaded a nice, compact AppImage, but you are facing one or more of these needs:
- Creating a shortcut for your program to place anywhere else
- Customizing the program icon
- Executing it with specific orders
If you are facing any of those, this is for you! ~/.local/share/applications/ What we do first is place our AppImages in a dedicated folder. For example: "Applications" inside your user folder (root is going to give us permission issues).
Once you have moved your desired AppImage to said folder, you will make it executable with this command:
chmod +x ~/Applications/YourApplicationFileName.AppImage
Now you need to create your desktop entry (.desktop). The command nano creates a file and the rest of the code will place it in the folder destined for this purpose inside your user folder (~/.local/share/applications/). It is a different folder than the one we created for our AppImages.
nano ~/.local/share/applications/YourApplication.desktop
A different terminal "look" will appear. This is your file editor, you will paste and change these commands to customize your desktop file.
Type=Application
Name=YourApplication
Comment=Short description for your app
Exec=/home/YOUR_USERNAME/Applications/YourApplication.AppImage
Icon=/home/YOUR_USERNAME/Applications/YourApplicationIcon.png
Terminal=false
Categories=Utility;
StartupWMClass=YourApplication
Customize your App icon, and execute it with specific orders!
Then save pressing ctrl + o, press enter to confirm and ctrl + x to close.
You might need to give permissions and update the desktop database. I have found cases in which I haven't, but here's how you'd do it:
sudo chmod +x /usr/share/applications/yourprogram.desktop
sudo update-desktop-database
And there you have it! An accessible desktop file for your AppImage you can fully customize.
Changelog
09-05-2026 - Added section about AppImages, implemented more index features