There are many open-source, community-developed software projects for Raspberry Pi, yet very few people know about them. Pi-Apps aims to improve this, functioning as a software catalog and standardizing installation.
- Each 'App' is simply a small `install` script, `uninstall` script, two icon sizes, and two text files containing the description and a website URL.
- Each App is stored in its own separate directory. `~/pi-apps/apps/` holds all these app directories. The Zoom app, for example, would be located at `~/pi-apps/apps/Zoom/`.
- Because of the contained nature of each app folder, it's really easy to 'package' your own apps: just put the folder in a ZIP file and send it to friends. (or upload it as a [new issue](https://github.com/Botspot/pi-apps/issues/new) so your app can be added to Pi-Apps)
- When you click Install, the selected App's `install` script is executed.
- When you click Uninstall, the selected App's `uninstall` script is executed.
- The `manage` script is similar to `apt-get` - it handles installing apps, uninstalling them, keeping them updated, and more. `Manage` does not include a GUI, though in some cases a dialog will appear to ask you a question.
Note that this will also list the `template` app, which contains the default install & uninstall scripts.
### App folder:
Each app folder contains some of these files:
-`credits` Contains credits for the app. This file may mention who created the app originally, who compiled it, who submitted it to Pi-Apps, etc. Few apps use this file.
-`description` This stores the app's description. If you hover your mouse over an app in the app list, it will display a tooltip derived from the first line of this file.
-`icon-24.png` This is a 24x24 pixel icon that is displayed in the app list.
-`icon-64.png` This is a 64x64 pixel icon that is displayed in the Details page.
-`install` If the app installs correctly on both 32bit and 64bit, and it only needs one install script for either CPU type, one single install script is used.
-`install-32` This script installs an app on 32bit OS'es, and is 32bit-specific.
-`install-64` This script installs an app on 64bit OS'es, and is 64bit-specific.
Sidenote: if an app only has an `install-32` script, then Pi-Apps will assume it's for 32bit OS'es only and will hide that app on 64bit installations.
-`uninstall` This script uninstalls the app. It must undo all changes made during install, but with one exception: **It must not permanently delete any user-generated confg!** [We don't want people's Minecraft worlds being deleted during an update.](https://github.com/Botspot/pi-apps/issues/44)
-`install` This script is used to install Pi-Apps. Adds a couple menu launchers, and makes sure YAD is installed.
-`manage` This script handles installing, uninstalling, and updating Apps. It does not check or update any files outside the `apps/` directory.
-`pi-apps.desktop` This file is a .desktop launcher, exactly the same as the main Pi-Apps launcher in Menu.
-`pkg-install` If an App requires some `apt` packages in order to run, its `install` script will run `pkg-install`. Pkg-install records which app installed what (in the installed-packages folder BTW), so when you uninstall an App, those packages will be removed.
-`preload` This script generates the app list for the `gui` script. If no files have been modified since last launch, `preload` won't regenerate the app list, but instead will return a previously saved version of the list. This approach reduces Pi-Apps's launch time by around 1 second.
-`purge-installed` This does exactly the opposite of `pkg-install` This script is run when an App is being uninstalled. Purge-installed will uninstall all packages the app installed.
-`README.md` You are reading this file right now!
-`settings` This GUI script is executed when you launch 'Pi-Apps Settings' from the Menu.
-`updater` This GUI script is executed every time the `gui` script is launched. Updater first compares today's date against the `last-update-check` file. If it's time to check for updates, `updater` first checks for App updates, then checks for other files/folders that have been modified or created. If anything can be updated, a dialog will open and ask permission to update:
-`data/` This folder holds all local data that should not be overwritten by updates.
-`settings/`This stores the current settings saved by the 'Pi-Apps Settings' window. Each file contains one setting. For example, the file `settings/Preferred text editor` contains "geany" by default.
-`status/` This folder stores all installation information for all apps.
If you install Zoom, then the `status/Zoom` file will be created, containing "installed". Installed apps will have this status icon in the app list: 
If installation was unsuccessful, then the file will contain "corrupted". The corresponding icon looks like: 
If the app has been uninstalled successfully, the icon is 
If the app has never been installed or uninstalled, then its `status` file will not exist. The icon for that is: . Notice the slight amount of red in the center. That's how you can tell the difference.
-`update-status/` This folder keeps track of which apps can be updated. Each file's name is of an app, so `update-status/Zoom` stores the update status of the Zoom app. This folder is refreshed whenever `~/pi-apps/manage check-all` is run.
"latest" means that app is up to date.
"new" means that app is new from the repository. (in other words, it does not exist locally)
"local" means that app does not exist on the repository.
"updatable" means the repository's version and the local version don't match.
-`preload/` This directory is used by the `preload` script to improve Pi-Apps' launch time.
-`timestamps` This file stores timestamps for the most recently modified app, the most recently modified setting, and the most rencently modified status file.
If any of these entries don't match when `preload` is called, then the app list will be regenerated.
-`LIST` This file holds the app list. The entire file's contents is piped into the YAD dialog box.
For example, if Pi Power Tools installs `xserver-xephyr` and `expect`, then the `installed-packages/Pi Power Tools` file will contain "xserver-xephyr expect".
-`hidelist` This file contains app names that should be hidden from the app list. `template` should always be there. If your Pi runs TwisterOS, then `hidelist` will contain several more app names, like balenaEtcher, for example.
-`last-update-check` This contains a date in numeric form. (Jan. 1 would be `1`, Dec. 31 would be `365`.) The `updater` script uses this file to keep track of when updates were last checked.
-`etc/` This folder is basically an extension of the main `pi-apps/` folder. Its contents don't need to clutter up the main directory, but they can't go in `data/` because these files should be kept up-to-date.
-`setting-params/` This stores the GUI entries for the Settings window. For example, if I wanted to add a new setting called "Auto donate" with 'Yes' and 'No' parameters, I'd create a new file called `setting-params/Auto donate` and it would contain this:
```
#Donate automatically to Botspot every time Pi-Apps is launched
Yes
No
```
Now, the next time Settings is opened, you will see:
What's the point? Basically, it allows for a more elegant way to add new settings. With this approach, it's a lot harder to screw up than with manually editing a bash script.
-`git_url` This simple file stores this link: https://github.com/Botspot/pi-apps
If you fork this repository and make changes, you will want Pi-Apps checking for updates from your repository, not this main one. Simply change the URL in this file to switch to your repository.
-`screenshots/` Stores screenshots of various dialogs, mainly used as an image hosting service, though I suppose they could come in handy if an offline help dialog was made.
-`update/` This folder holds the latest version of the entire Pi-Apps repository. It's contents is re-downloaded every time you check for updates. It is used to compare file hashes, detect when an app or file can be updated, and is used to copy new file versions into the main `pi-apps/` directory during an update.
> For a long time I have been saddened by how few people are aware of open-source RPi software projects. Many of these projects are extremely useful and beneficial, but there has never been a good way to distribute them.
> One day I realized: Why not make my own app store that specializes in all the community RPi software projects out there? It will help more users find the software, and at the same time it would provide a super simple way to install them.
> (Which would you rather do - click a shiny Install button, or manually type 11 commands?)
