Looking in the docs, there is only a description of installing the AppImage, but there does not appear to be a description for installing arduino-ide_2.1.0_Linux_64bit.zip. Looking inside the zip file there is no readme, or instructions for installation. So what does one do? How do I use it?
Looking at the zip file contents, it seems this is a pre-compiled blob, rather than source files. Is the build so onerous that only experts can accomplish this? What is the difference between this zip and the AppImage? Thanks for any guidance you can provide.
I have used the AppImage, and find it a bit disconcerting as to where settings are stored, and disappearing things in /temp. Maybe it's the "modern" way, but it is hard to figure out where things are.
If you decide to give that a try and have any questions or problems, you are welcome to ask for assistance here.
That said, if you only want to get to having fun with making Arduino projects, then using the IDE builds provided by Arduino will be the best way to go.
The Linux ZIP package does not support self-updates.
It is necessary to invoke the executable you get in the ZIP package from the terminal, whereas you can simply double-click on the AppImage file.
These are the reasons why the AppImage package is the recommended option for Linux users.
The ZIP package enables doing some niche very advanced things. For example, you could swap out the Arduino CLI bundled with the Arduino IDE installation with a different version:
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, especially the difference between the zip file and the AppImage. At the moment, I do not think the instructions are sufficient for me to build this myself. There are far too many parts that are not sufficiently explained, and involve knowing about a lot of things whose links simply dump one to a page, but do not tell one how to do anything. "In the old days", gee I hate putting it that way, one would follow a recipe. 1) install the dependencies and 2) make the build. It's not clear what exactly the dependencies are, nor where they are to be found, or how to get them on one's system. At least that's my perspective. Hope the docs improve, as I'd really like to try this, but I don't even know what yarn is, or why it is needed. Thanks for any and all help.
I agree that the documentation in that "Development Guide" is incomplete and unclear. We are tracking the need to improve on it here:
I would not consider the lack of this information in the Arduino IDE development guide a deficiency, since that is the responsibility of the Yarn documentation, which is available by following through the links:
The primary purpose is to manage the project dependencies (similar to npm).
It also serves as a task runner (similar to Make) for the various development operations (e.g., yarn start will run Arduino IDE from the source code).
Thanks for your patience and explanation. The point to my question, was that the docs, don't quite provide enough information for a user to do a build, without a whole lot of learning/retraining for a new methodology. It is not that it is bad, but the recipe is incomplete at this time. If one is attempting to make bread for the first time, and the docs send you to a generic treatise on yeast subtypes, the docs have failed in helping you make bread. It would be better to simply state exactly what is needed to do, right down to the correct water temperature, so you don't kill the yeast!
Now as a new user, the link that was provided for yarn already presents a problem. It is for yarn versions less than 2.0. Since I don't know anything about yarn (new guy remember?) how would I know which yarn to use? 1 or 2? The Arduino link doesn't let me know this and the yarn docs assume I know what I need. So already I have confusing options and no guidelines what to choose.
Not to belabor the point, but at the moment, the docs are incomplete. They simply do not contain enough information for a new user, with moderate general programming skills to complete a build, without already completely knowing the build system. In my opinion, the docs would also include sufficient instructions for installing and configuring the build system. Thanks for continuing the conversation.
You are welcome. If you give it a try and identify any specific deficiencies or areas for improvement in that "Development Guide" please do let me know.
It is easy for someone already familiar with the subject matter to miss these things, and that makes it more difficult for those people to write documentation that is friendly to the target reader.
I totally agree with your second paragraph! It's second nature for those who already know what to do, but can be crazy perplexing for someone going through it the first few times.
In the next few days I will give a try and report back.