diff --git a/desktop/src/main.ts b/desktop/src/main.ts
index e8c290af9..eafcc009a 100644
--- a/desktop/src/main.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/main.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
  *
  * https://www.electronjs.org/docs/latest/tutorial/process-model#the-main-process
  */
-import log from "electron-log";
 import { app, BrowserWindow } from "electron/main";
 import serveNextAt from "next-electron-server";
 import { existsSync } from "node:fs";
@@ -27,7 +26,7 @@ import {
     setupTrayItem,
 } from "./main/init";
 import { attachFSWatchIPCHandlers, attachIPCHandlers } from "./main/ipc";
-import { initLogging, logErrorSentry } from "./main/log";
+import log, { initLogging } from "./main/log";
 import { initWatcher } from "./services/chokidar";
 
 let appIsQuitting = false;
@@ -182,7 +181,7 @@ const main = () => {
         } catch (e) {
             // Log but otherwise ignore errors during non-critical startup
             // actions
-            logErrorSentry(e, "Ignoring startup error");
+            log.error("Ignoring startup error", e);
         }
     });
 
diff --git a/desktop/src/main/init.ts b/desktop/src/main/init.ts
index 0a12da353..af79f39ad 100644
--- a/desktop/src/main/init.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/main/init.ts
@@ -1,18 +1,15 @@
 import { app, BrowserWindow, Menu, nativeImage, Tray } from "electron";
-import ElectronLog from "electron-log";
 import { existsSync } from "node:fs";
-import os from "os";
-import path from "path";
-import util from "util";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
 import { isAppQuitting, rendererURL } from "../main";
 import { setupAutoUpdater } from "../services/appUpdater";
 import autoLauncher from "../services/autoLauncher";
 import { getHideDockIconPreference } from "../services/userPreference";
 import { isPlatform } from "../utils/common/platform";
 import { buildContextMenu, buildMenuBar } from "../utils/menu";
-import { isDev } from "./general";
-import { logErrorSentry } from "./log";
-const execAsync = util.promisify(require("child_process").exec);
+import log from "./log";
+import { isDev } from "./util";
 
 /**
  * Create an return the {@link BrowserWindow} that will form our app's UI.
@@ -167,25 +164,22 @@ export async function handleDockIconHideOnAutoLaunch() {
     }
 }
 
-export function logSystemInfo() {
+export function logStartupBanner() {
+    const version = isDev ? "dev" : app.getVersion();
+    log.info(`hello from ente-photos-desktop ${version}`);
+
     const systemVersion = process.getSystemVersion();
     const osName = process.platform;
     const osRelease = os.release();
-    ElectronLog.info({ osName, osRelease, systemVersion });
-    const appVersion = app.getVersion();
-    ElectronLog.info({ appVersion });
+    log.info(`system info ${{ osName, osRelease, systemVersion }}`);
 }
 
-export async function checkIfInstalledViaBrew() {
-    if (!isPlatform("mac")) {
-        return false;
-    }
+async function checkIfInstalledViaBrew() {
+    if (process.platform != "darwin") return false;
     try {
         await execAsync("brew list --cask ente");
-        ElectronLog.info("ente installed via brew");
         return true;
     } catch (e) {
-        ElectronLog.info("ente not installed via brew");
         return false;
     }
 }
diff --git a/desktop/src/main/ipc.ts b/desktop/src/main/ipc.ts
index beac3b721..be9798186 100644
--- a/desktop/src/main/ipc.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/main/ipc.ts
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ import {
     saveFileToDisk,
     saveStreamToDisk,
 } from "./fs";
-import { openDirectory, openLogDirectory } from "./general";
 import { logToDisk } from "./log";
+import { openDirectory, openLogDirectory } from "./util";
 
 /**
  * Listen for IPC events sent/invoked by the renderer process, and route them to
diff --git a/desktop/src/main/log.ts b/desktop/src/main/log.ts
index 323c71e97..25e025d82 100644
--- a/desktop/src/main/log.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/main/log.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import log from "electron-log";
-import { isDev } from "./general";
+import { isDev } from "./util";
 
 /**
  * Initialize logging in the main process.
diff --git a/desktop/src/main/general.ts b/desktop/src/main/util.ts
similarity index 64%
rename from desktop/src/main/general.ts
rename to desktop/src/main/util.ts
index e0b7654fe..4933e5ff4 100644
--- a/desktop/src/main/general.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/main/util.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,31 @@
+import shellescape from "any-shell-escape";
 import { shell } from "electron"; /* TODO(MR): Why is this not in /main? */
 import { app } from "electron/main";
+import { exec } from "node:child_process";
 import path from "node:path";
+import { promisify } from "node:util";
 
 /** `true` if the app is running in development mode. */
 export const isDev = !app.isPackaged;
 
+/**
+ * Run a shell command asynchronously.
+ *
+ * This is a convenience promisified version of child_process.exec. It runs the
+ * command asynchronously and returns its stdout and stderr if there were no
+ * errors.
+ *
+ * It also shellescapes the command before running it.
+ *
+ * Note: This is not a 1-1 replacement of child_process.exec - if you're trying
+ * to run a trivial shell command, say something that produces a lot of output,
+ * this might not be the best option and it might be better to use the
+ * underlying functions.
+ */
+export const execAsync = (command: string) => execAsync_(shellescape(command));
+
+const execAsync_ = promisify(exec);
+
 /**
  * Open the given {@link dirPath} in the system's folder viewer.
  *
diff --git a/desktop/src/services/clipService.ts b/desktop/src/services/clipService.ts
index 049b706b6..697905450 100644
--- a/desktop/src/services/clipService.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/services/clipService.ts
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ import path from "node:path";
 import util from "util";
 import { CustomErrors } from "../constants/errors";
 import { writeStream } from "../main/fs";
-import { isDev } from "../main/general";
 import { logErrorSentry } from "../main/log";
+import { isDev } from "../main/util";
 import { Model } from "../types/ipc";
 import Tokenizer from "../utils/clip-bpe-ts/mod";
 import { getPlatform } from "../utils/common/platform";
diff --git a/desktop/src/services/imageProcessor.ts b/desktop/src/services/imageProcessor.ts
index ffb86edea..374afe9ad 100644
--- a/desktop/src/services/imageProcessor.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/services/imageProcessor.ts
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ import fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import path from "path";
 import util from "util";
 import { CustomErrors } from "../constants/errors";
+import { isDev } from "../main";
 import { writeStream } from "../main/fs";
-import { isDev } from "../main/general";
 import { logError, logErrorSentry } from "../main/log";
 import { ElectronFile } from "../types/ipc";
 import { isPlatform } from "../utils/common/platform";
diff --git a/desktop/src/types/any-shell-escape.d.ts b/desktop/src/types/any-shell-escape.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4172cdb1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/src/types/any-shell-escape.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/**
+ * Escape and stringify an array of arguments to be executed on the shell.
+ *
+ * @example
+ *
+ *     const shellescape = require('any-shell-escape');
+ *
+ *     const args = ['curl', '-v', '-H', 'Location;', '-H', "User-Agent: FooBar's so-called \"Browser\"", 'http://www.daveeddy.com/?name=dave&age=24'];
+ *
+ *     const escaped = shellescape(args);
+ *     console.log(escaped);
+ *
+ * yields (on POSIX shells):
+ *
+ *     curl -v -H 'Location;' -H 'User-Agent: FoorBar'"'"'s so-called "Browser"' 'http://www.daveeddy.com/?name=dave&age=24'
+ *
+ * or (on Windows):
+ *
+ *     curl -v -H "Location;" -H "User-Agent: FooBar's so-called ""Browser""" "http://www.daveeddy.com/?name=dave&age=24"
+Which is suitable for being executed by the shell.
+ */
+declare module "any-shell-escape" {
+    declare const shellescape: (args: readonly string | string[]) => string;
+    export default shellescape;
+}
diff --git a/desktop/src/utils/menu.ts b/desktop/src/utils/menu.ts
index 941d8ae25..5604cabce 100644
--- a/desktop/src/utils/menu.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/utils/menu.ts
@@ -6,8 +6,7 @@ import {
     shell,
 } from "electron";
 import ElectronLog from "electron-log";
-import { setIsAppQuitting } from "../main";
-import { openDirectory, openLogDirectory } from "../main/general";
+import { openDirectory, openLogDirectory, setIsAppQuitting } from "../main";
 import { forceCheckForUpdateAndNotify } from "../services/appUpdater";
 import autoLauncher from "../services/autoLauncher";
 import {
@@ -188,7 +187,8 @@ export async function buildMenuBar(mainWindow: BrowserWindow): Promise<Menu> {
             submenu: [
                 {
                     label: "Ente Help",
-                    click: () => shell.openExternal("https://help.ente.io/photos/"),
+                    click: () =>
+                        shell.openExternal("https://help.ente.io/photos/"),
                 },
                 { type: "separator" },
                 {