Beginner: How to run a program (or application) not available in our repository list?

You’ve just installed OpenMandriva and you need that specific application.

The best source for applications is always our software repository, because applications are fully optimised, and libraries are shared which reduces the used disk space.
However, it may happen that that specific application is unsupported or even unavailable. No panic, there is still lot of chance you can install and use that specific application.

AppImages:

Many applications developers tend to provide an AppImage file for Linux.
It’s a single executable file containing all the libraries and data necessary to make the software run. Though there are AppImages applications store, you should only download (and trust) AppImages from the official site of the application.

Ideally you should create in your home folder a directory dedicated to AppImages (for instance Applications) and download all your AppImage applications there.
Open your file browser and open the newly downloaded file to lauch the program by clicking on it.
At first launch, you will have a first warning telling that you should trust the program before executing it. Simply click continue and your application will start.

image

Generally, but not always, the files are self-updatable and ask confirmation before downloading a more recent release to replace the previous.
One of the main constraint is that the AppImages are not added in the application menu. So either you have to launch your program from the file browser, or to create a desktop icon linking to your appimage. But it’s a process that will be described in another topic.

Some examples of programs provided as AppImage: AirVPN, Cozy Cloud, Shadow, QownNotes, Nextcloud client…

Flatpak/FLathub:

To make it short, Flatpak is the utility and environment, Flathub is the store.
From Flathub you can get a lot of applications.

To install a flatpak application you need to install Flatpak utility first:

sudo dnf install flatpak

Then add the Flathub repository

sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

To complete setup, restart your system.
Then look for the application you want to install.

Some examples of programs available in Flathub: Matrix Element, Spotify client, Atom Editor…

Other possibilities:

(to be completed later)

Note: don’t hesitate to make a package request or update here at our Github issue page.