Newbie question. Which app to choose?

[tonicastillo]

When I search and there are several apps with the same name in the App store. How do I know which one is best for me?
Thanks!

[itimpi]

No easy way.     You can read the description given for the app, and also click on the support link to see what others have been saying about the app.  At the end of the day it will probably being a case of picking one and seeing if it meets your needs.  You can easily change your mind later if needed.

 

[Frank1940]

You might also look at the 'Support' thread to see if the app is being actively supported by the developer/maintainer and the community.  This is important if you think you might need help to getting things working or help in resolving any problems. 

[tonicastillo]

Maybe a rating system for apps within unraid itself would help.
Thanks!

[ConnerVT]

Generally (and I am going to be speaking in general terms in this post) when there are several of the same application in CA, they are basically the same.  The way to look at it is that a docker has two parts - the application program and the docker "wrapper" around the application which translates/maps things between the application and the Docker engine running in Unraid.  Typically most all inside these docker containers is the same application.  Sometimes the author may tweak things a little, such as adding scripts/plugins/extensions for the application which you may have added  if you had installed the application in a more conventional manner.  

 

As folks said above, unless there is a container you know has a different, specific feature you want (such a Deluge bundled with VPN) it really comes down to support.  There are some major groups and individual superstars who do a great job with their repositories.  Poking around in Community Applications and searching/sorting things, you will see who is most active.  Then looking at how they handle their support (both which platform and their style).  See which works best for you, then you'll have a better gut feeling the next time you need to decide whose version to install.

[Frank1940]

I have installed very few Dockers Apps but I do watch the forum.  What I have noticed lately is that some Docker Apps that write files for the array are not setting the permissions that Unraid expects.  (Unraid needs directory permissions to be 777 and files permissions to be at least 666.)   I have reason to believe that the current Linux security recommendation is that directories permissions be 755 and files permissions be 644.   If the permissions are set to 755 and 644, Unraid SMB has problems with writing to files.  This often requires that the UMASK be set to 000

 

OBSERVATION:  I am assuming that this is because Unraid puts all Share Users into the users group and the group permissions are being used at the Linux level by SMB to 'permit' SMB to share the file.   If you do much looking at the owner of files in the array, you will find that the owner is often a Share User name.  It is not unusual for several different Share Users have have access rights to a common set of files.  Thus, it is the group permissions that determine file access at the Linux OS level.  The access level that one sets in the Share SMB setup are at a higher level.  If the only access to the array is via SMB (or NFS), the permissions are always written correctly.  However, if one has Dockers or VM's writing to the array at the Linux level, it is necessary that these be setup so that they write files and directories with the proper permissions for Unraid SMB to work. 

Edited November 23, 2023 by Frank1940

[jayw1]

I take into consideration when the latest update was and the number of downloads. If it's updated often and popular, it's probably the best choice.