How can I get the version of a software without installing it?

[Ma5t3rful]

Other package managers usually give you the version of the app alongside the name of it or you can tell them to do so with something like: info.

Here is the output of apt for example:

~$ apt search konversation
arc-kde/testing 20220908-3 all
  Port of the popular GTK theme Arc for Plasma Desktop

keditbookmarks/testing,now 25.04.0-1 amd64
  bookmarks editor utility for KDE

konversation/testing 25.04.0-2 amd64
  user friendly Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client for KDE

konversation-data/testing 25.04.0-2 all
  data files for Konversation

I quickly skimmed through the appman -h's output but I didn't find anything. So I'm asking here:

How can I get the version of a software without installing it?

[ivan-hc]

Short answer:

You can't do that with AM/AppMan. You need to go to the developer's website. You can find the link using the -a or about option.

Long answer:

Unlike other package managers, which store packages in their own databases and their owners act as actual maintainers of those packages, and unlike the AUR, whose maintainers update PKGBUILDs manually when they have the opportunity, even with considerable delays... AM intercepts portable apps directly from their creators.

This means that the version you download will always be the latest one made available by upstream.

AM is a direct link between you and upstream, allowing you to download and install the latest version of the portable app without having to open your browser to download it, nor do you have to monitor that site for the latest available version.

NOTE, these are "portable" apps, meaning they're specifically created to be downloaded from the developer's website.

That said, it's not possible to track the version currently made available by upstream.

Since they're susceptible to sudden changes, it's impossible to guarantee consistency between the cached version and the upstream version, while still maintaining a reasonable speed in generating lists. There are thousands of apps, scattered across the web on different sites, and some domains are really slow, depending on your location. And they often change the links, so I can't get track of them all in real time to give you a quick output like the one in APT you have shown in the screenshot.

But your question is "How can I get the version of a software without installing it?", and yes, there is a solution. The one you would expect from a portable app hosted on the site of the developer. The only possible solution for this kind of packages: it's up to you to visit the developer's website (using the -a or about option to get the link) and check which version is available for download.

The real purpose of AM: an app doesn't work? Contact the developer, and they'll make sure the bug is fixed for you and everyone else.

Extra

There is, however, a package manager similar to AppMan, called "SOAR." Its approach is the same as APT, DNF, and Pacman: portable packages (static binaries, but also AppImages and the like) are uploaded to their own database on Cloudflare. Many packages are also taken from AM, but they aren't as up-to-date. It depends on its workflows.

And as with APT, DNF, and Pacman, the package maintainer isn't upstream. So you can't fix bugs upstream or fix them in real time.

Each program has its own JSON, with all the details, including HASHes and the size of each package.

SOAR is a partner of AM, and AM itself can install and manage programs from the soarpkg database via the .soarpkg extension or the --soarpkg flag (run am -h and scroll down to the third-party flags for more information).

If direct contact with upstream isn't important to you and you prefer a classic APT-style approach with your own, well-organized database, SOAR may be right for you.

https://github.com/pkgforge/soar

Otherwise, AM/AppMan is the only option that guarantees the latest version of the upstream software.

I hope I've been thorough.

[Ma5t3rful]

Thank you for your in-depth explanation.