Downloads = Difference Between exe and exe.sig ???

Software digiKam
1

I was looking at the digiKam downloads and noticed otherwise identical packages instead of the “.exe” suffix had a “.exe.sig”

I noticed that the ,sig packages were over twice the mb than the plain exe packages.

I searched around for an answer to no avail; what is the difference between the two ?

I am tempted to try the latest “Pre-release”; am I liable to regret it; or, should I just wait for the stable release ?

Thanks for reading and all help is appreciated.

2

Morning, @BuckSkin,
I am no digiKam specialist – but in general, a .sig file is nothing but a signature file which can be used to verify the download.

1 Like
3

Thanks; Claes

I see beta 3 has “debug” in the name; whereas, beta 2 does not.
What does “debug” signify and which would be the more stable package, beta2 or beta3.debug ?

4

It looks like for beta 3 there’s both a debug and release (without -debug) build, while before it was just a release build. Debug builds are bigger and potentially a bit slower, but potentially offer more insight to the devs if something goes wrong.

5

Debug has embedded debug symbols which help generating useful bug reports. So if you are willing to contribute via testing pre-releases then you should download debug version otherwise non-debug version will be just fine.

6

Thanks everyone.

I thought I might try my hand at installing in Linux Mint Cinnamon as well and see if some of the glitches I run into in Windows work better in Linux.

I sort of guessed that for Linux Mint on a 64-bit machine that I would need the x86-64 appimage; is that right ?

I am getting the Windows .exe as well; I am just experimenting around with Linux; Windows will most likely always be my main machine.

7

Yes, x86-64 appimage is what you will need.

The OS of choice mostly depends on few things:

  • Hardware support (does everything e.g. hardware acceleration, volume buttons, etc. work on Linux?)

  • Software support (evaluate every program you use daily/weekly/monthly and not just the software for photography).

  • How old is your PC (Linux Mint might work better on older machines)

I you try Linux just for digiKam I would not bother but if that is for rsync, rapid photo downloader, digiKam, etc. it might make sense.

Linux might feel a bit clunky compared to Windows but it offers better integration of such cool tools like exiftool, rsync, ffmpeg into your workflow via shell scripts.

8

You can get the same with tools like Msys2 or Cygwin which provide a unix like environment.

1 Like
9

Thanks everyone!

To be honest, Linux feels a LOT clunky compared to Windows 7…, but a darn sight easier to understand than Windows 10.

I waste a lot of time stumbling around in Linux; but, it is akin to killing an elephant with a double-barrel drilling; not everyone can do it.

Linux, to me, is sort of like those sirens beckoning me in too close to the rocks.