Right, I've got this sorted now and for future reference I'll jot down what I did.

If you use the Linux version from the repo it makes a hidden toribash folder in your home directory, and that's where all the custom etc lives. The data folder hower isn't, and instead there's a link. The problem is the data folder has permissions set so only root can write files - so it craps out when updating the torishop file in there.

I sorted it by deleting the link and copying the data file from the Linux download version.

Damn I'm good! lol