Zotero 5 for Arm Processors

oneyud87
Thank you for a magnificent project.
Are there any plans for building a distribution for Linux for ARM processors? This will become increasingly relevant now that the Raspberry Pi 4 is a reasonable desktop alternative, in addition to the various ARM Chromebooks.
What would be involved in developing this? My coding skills are not sufficient to do this myself but if there is any way that an amateur coder could help to get this done I'd like to help.
  • builder2020
    edited April 3, 2020
    I'm also interested in running Zotero on ARM. There are getting to be more machines that you might want to use it on that aren't x86_64.

    I found the build instructions @ https://www.zotero.org/support/dev/client_coding/building_the_standalone_client

    Could someone confirm that these instructions are up to date? I see the requirement for xulrunner so I'm wondering (I thought mozilla deprecated xul).

    I'd also love to know if anyone else has had this work before I clutter up this system with build artifacts.
  • jiangxl
    I found a AUR PKGBUILD script describe how to install on ARM. Now, I'm running Zotero on my arm chromebook.

    https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/zotero-arm-bin/

    Another, Zotero team seem to use electron framework instead of Firefox, which may directly enable Zotero run at ARM machine.
  • dstillman
    I haven't looked a that, but note that if it's using Poppler as a dependency then some things related to PDF extraction and recognition might not work properly. Zotero uses a customized version of Xpdf. It doesn't use Poppler (there are some minor differences), and it doesn't use the default binaries.
  • joaofrgomes
    I should add my two cents as a Mac user: don't forget all the rumours that have been swirling around about some upcoming Mac models based on Apple-designed Ax processors…
    Those computers would be an absolute hit, as they would likely be much cheaper – or, alternatively, much more powerful – and with better power consumption than the current Intel models. Expect those users to ask for an ARM version soon after.
  • dstillman
    @joaofrgomes: That has no bearing on this. A Linux ARM build has no relation to a macOS ARM build. We'll obviously support whatever new Macs come out. (You're coming from Mendeley, which still lists itself as compatible only up to 10.13 half a year into 10.15, so I understand you might not take that as a given, but rest assured that Zotero always supports the current macOS release. Much of the Zotero dev team uses Macs.)
  • diatomicDisaster
    I would also like to see an ARM build for Linux. The new Raspberry Pi 4 has an 8GB model that makes it an incredibly capable desktop computer (I use it daily in my research now as it effectively allows me to carry my entire computer between home and work in my pocket). I can only see the Raspberry Pi becoming more popular in this application and it would be an immense help to have an ARM build.
  • studiofil
    I completely agree with diatomicDisaster. I have several Raspberry Pi 4Bs (4GB), was hoping that by having one, or several, I'd have a portable Zotero available to me. I have my Zotero storage on a R-Pi webdav, but have to use either Windows or an Xubuntu laptop to use the client. Someone . . . pretty please create this. LOTS of people are interestd.
  • Burke.Brunson
    I would also like to voice my support for the development of a version of Zotero that can run natively on raspberry pi SBCs. These are increasingly becoming a go to solution for various people. Having a solution for that platform that is maintained the same as windows/mac/linux, going forward, would be a major improvement, along with dark mode. Pretty please with drizzled chocolate and a cherry on top!
  • emanuelucas
    Yes please to zotero on arm. Or at least a way for us web library-only users to store our stuff in google drive.
  • jon-freed
    For a summary of the status of Zotero on ARM and Raspberry Pi, please see https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/371347
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