I'm probably completely missing the point of this tool but what's the need if you're already running Garuda when you can just run the update command? I assume the use is mainly just for I'd you're on Windows or another Linux distro? If that's the case then what's the whole delta and zsync feature for? Sorry if it's a dumb question lol
You should always have the most latest ISO for your flavor of Garuda on a bootable media. This tool helps with that. You can also “update” older ISO files with this tool (saves on bandwidth).
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So if running Garuda already then it helps to just keep an updated ISO build on my USB stick? And I can update ISO files through the zsync functionally that would normally not get updated through the typical "pacman -Syyu"?
Correct. The update command only updates the system.
(i only said "update" in the prior post because the downloader tool does something akin to an update on an older ISO)
Okay thanks for explaining. What exactly does updating the ISO do though that isn't updated in the system? This is honestly the first time I've heard that there's a real difference requiring the use of a tool like this to keep up to date
The update command fully updates your system yeah, but if you want to keep a .iso file around for whatever reason (like for testing purposes or making VMs or whatever) this is pretty useful. Otherwise, there is no reason for you to use it on your already installed Garuda system.
Older ISO files can be updated via the normal update command just fine usually, but newer ISO files include newer themes, various fixes, etc. out of the box already. You should try to use the latest ISO whenever you install Garuda Linux, so this is where Garuda Downloader is helpful. It also tries to make flashing a USB as easy as possible.
“Updating” an ISO file does nothing unless you actually use the ISO file. If you have no plan on using the ISO file then there is no reason to update it.
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Doesn't hurt to have the most latest ISO on a bootable media though since most people use Ventoy anyways. (Probably because I have more that one system to help manage currently, and maybe more if other people I know want to try Garuda 
)
It might seem odd to keep an updated ISO kicking around on a thumb drive when you already have the OS up and running, but if you poke around in the old forum threads you can find a hundred times when being able to boot to the live image saved somebody’s butt!
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Not so essential if you have multiple computers in your home, but if you don't, then it's a pretty important thing to keep on hand.
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Having a computer not boot; and not having a 2nd device to browse the internet for help. That's a nightmare.
The USB stick could be considered a 2nd device, or a 2nd life.
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I also needed a bootable Linux USB drive to move and resize my Linux btrfs partition; which you can't move the partition start while being booted on it, and which you can't do from Windows.
You can with btrfs. Shrink down your filesystem with btrfs filesystem resize (it can be used on a live session), then shrink down the partition with parted. It seems a little like open heart surgery to do this while you are booted in to it, but I have done it many times and it’s fine.
From there, parted again to add a new partition (we’ll call it p3) after the one you are booted into (p2), then btrfs replace to move p2 data to p3. Again, due to btrfs awesomeness this can be done while you are booted into it.
That leaves p2 empty. You can delete the partition and use parted to expand p1 or p3 (or both), or keep p2, or whatever you want. Don’t forget to btrfs filesystem resize max after you are finished messing around, so the filesystem will fill up the partition again.
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That is quite a hacky way to deal with partitions... one false move and you can lose. And I did lose my entire Windows 10 partition while doing the resizes; there was an error message, then boom nothing at all on the partition. So I removed it and looked into setting a VM with GPU passthrough instead.
Creating a new partition and moving all the content to it; can only work if there's plenty of hard drive space available, and can take a long time to move everything. But if it's nearly full and you want to expand by 20GB, that won't work.
Still, I guess that's an option for the desperate...
It’s an option for anyone who wants to overcome this perceived obstacle:
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Since important data is on the line, much easier and safer to boot from a Partition Manager USB key; or booting from any Linux distro works too.
But perhaps in some rare circumstances, rebooting isn't an option?
But yes you've overcome the limitation, I'll give you that.
It's obviously an impractical approach if you have other options. It just popped into my head when you said it couldn't be done. I thought I'd share because I thought it was cool, that's all.