Let me start this with a confession:

I really wanted to like AppImages

The promise is compelling: universal Linux binaries that run everywhere without installation. Just download, chmod +x, and go. It’s the kind of elegant simplicity that makes you think “why didn’t we do this sooner?”

Then reality hits.

The Cursor Catalyst

This whole adventure started when I decided to try Cursor, the AI-powered code editor that’s my daily code editor. Unfortunately, it’s not updated frequently in AUR, so I decided to try the AppImage. When I tried to run it, I got the following error: