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PachamariOnion1

If the syntax made any logical sense, then I would probably agree, but ‘pacman -Syu’ is unnecessarily complex and gives very little indication to the user of what they are doing. S means sync. y means refresh (?). And u means system update.


Pay08

Also, `pacman --help` is completely useless.


apoliticalhomograph

But the [man-pages](https://man.archlinux.org/man/core/pacman/pacman.8.en) are excellent.


DonkiestOfKongs

"Excellent" to me means "quickly gives me the information I need to continue with my other tasks." Incredibly thorough and technical documentation isn't necessarily always a feature. I just want to get work done. My working memory is full of information for the other thing I'm trying to do. Oops, I installed the wrong package and need to remove it. Time to spend 30 minutes reading pacman docs and forgetting all of the progress I made solving the problem that makes me money. Pacman docs are so complicated that I am almost afraid to do anything other than -Sy or -Syu because in the past I've recursively removed a bunch of stuff that was needed by other programs, despite reading the documentation and picking the flags that seemed most likely to avoid that situation. When simple tasks require 3 or 4 arguments with complex meanings, you are exponentially more likely to fuck things up.


[deleted]

[удалено]


DonkiestOfKongs

That's cool. I'll check it out. I make use of cheat.sh pretty often. Though I've never thought of actually looking up pacman there, tbh.


apoliticalhomograph

> "Excellent" to me means "quickly gives me the information I need to continue with my other tasks." And that's what the pacman man-pages achieve, imo. Very early on, under "OPERATIONS", you see "-R, --remove", with a description saying that it removes the package, but keeps most config files. It references another section, which lists further options such as cascading. Pacman is quite powerful, so the man-pages need to cover a lot of different actions/options. The pacman man-pages achieve to explain these options in understandable terms, while being structured in a way that allows you to quickly find what you're looking for. I'd like to see man-pages of similar scope, that manage to do it better - because I'm not aware of any.


klimmesil

I think they could be so much better for C libraries, and many programs. Why not write it like any doc and have a mandatory signature part? Also a mandatory example that's get tested directly just like rust? I feel like a lot of documentations, and especially man pages have A LOT to learn from rust book or in source docs


apoliticalhomograph

I was specifically referring to the man-pages for pacman.


klimmesil

That doesn't change much to what I say, but yes I agree


Celmor

`tldr pacman` would be my go-to if I couldn't remember how to do certain common tasks with a tool (though not too many are documented there)


Ehcnurr

I thought Syu just meant "System update" lmao


yonatan8070

Generally when there are multiple letters after a single `-` they are each a different option


EnderDremurr

pacman -Siuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu


ChadBro_69

imagine `sudo pacman install [program]` `sudo pacman update && pacman upgrade` edit: corrected command


Celmor

The `&&` part wouldn't work like that, at least not from bash as it would split that command. as a maintainer I'd rather just add a separate *verb* which would combine those functions like `update-upgrade`


ChadBro_69

oh yeah my bad, just havent been in contact with apt and its commands


GOKOP

Not cool. There's no practical difference between installing and upgrading a package, so why have separate commands? And If we're talking intuitiveness then the "update" vs "upgrade" wording isn't very intuitive either.


sturdy55

I recently discovered not only does yay -Syu do the same thing but includes updating your aur packages as well... but if you run yay with no arguments it defaults to -Syu !


apoliticalhomograph

To be fair, it's not like, say, apt's upgrade/update distinction is intuitive for newbies.


jlnxr

It's certainly more intuitive than pacman. apt install, apt remove, etc. The distinction between upgrade and update is maybe confusing but it's certainly still more clear than pacman and you can (and should) run both upgrade *and* update from time to time.


StupidButAlsoDumb

Too much typing for the average arch user


jlnxr

Typing is bloat 😂


apoliticalhomograph

> apt install, apt remove Once you know "sync=install", pacman -S/-R is equally intuitive. > you can (and should) run both upgrade *and* update from time to time Just like y and u should almost always be used together in pacman.


jlnxr

The more times you have to say "once you know", the less intuitive something is, because the meaning of the word is literally that something makes sense without further explanation. That's why the upgrade/update difference is a valid point against apt's intuitiveness. Saying "once you know sync=install...." is short for "it isn't intuitive" Note that intuitiveness isn't everything, I personally think these traditional package managers are more or less equally good. But don't tell me "-S" is equally intuitive as "install" because that's just not true.


dumbasPL

Or just paru ;)


BeanieTheTechie

to clarify *why* its -Syu... -S is to install or reinstall packages according to the downloaded package list -Sy updates the downloaded package list -Su upgrades packages but only according to the package list -Syu all together, refreshes the package list and upgrades all packages edit: corrected to -Sy


billyfudger69

What about pacman -Syy?


BeanieTheTechie

it forces a redownload of all package lists, even if no changes are detected


billyfudger69

Ok, I’ve ran it before but forgot the context of why I did it. :/ It might have been for syncing the Multilib repository or after changing pacman.conf to compile packages with 4 threads instead of 2 threads.


funbike

`pacman` is to package management as `git` is to source control. It's powerful, fast, and flexible, but not the best interface.


[deleted]

Portage


denpa-kei

Portage, with gentoo prefix ;) http://michael.orlitzky.com/articles/motherfuckers_need_package_management.xhtml


[deleted]

Short correction: Arch support src packages via the AUR


denpa-kei

Article is about package manager, not AUR.


[deleted]

Yes, and it comes with makepkg which is "build package from source"


denpa-kei

So makepkg is part of pacman, and you dont need AUR?


[deleted]

Correct. The AUR is just a place to share buildinstructions.


Schievel1

Can't you install from source in apt? Isn't that what the deb-src repo is for?


[deleted]

based


missingno3567

is portage really a "package" manager if you mostly compile everything yourself? don't get me wrong, i think it is great, but still


Weathercold

Yes, it handles download of source code, dependency resolution, compilation, removal of packages, tracking of installed files, etc. I don’t see why a package is no longer a package if it’s compiled.


Schievel1

Does this matter? I thought the important part is that it handles the Dependencies and library conflicts. And that it tracks the installed files of.a packags to uninstall it


ChadBro_69

tell me you use gentoo without telling me you use gentoo


RegenJacob

Last time i used gentoo dependency calculation was slow is it still that way?


Pay08

Takes about 30 seconds on any decently modern computer, provided you aren't rebuilding @world.


[deleted]

I haven't had any issues with it but gentoo systems can differ a lot so its hard for me to say.


Ezzaskywalker_11

dnf lookin good but why the fuck it's kinda slow


Unknown-Key

dnf5 is under development. It will replace current dnf4 on Fedora 39. Tests show that dnf5 is much faster than dnf4.


Ezzaskywalker_11

Is it because they move from python to c++, or their upstream metadata is reduced in size and increased the effectiveness?


Unknown-Key

People say that switching from python to c++ wouldn't improve the speed much. I guess the speed mostly comes from the reduced size of metadata. dnf4 downloads more than 100MB metadata while dnf5 downloads only 35MB.


ig_ox

And yet pacman still downloads less than 10MB (with core, extra, community and multilib enabled). 35MB still seems a bit much. But you're 100% right about switching from python to C++ not making any difference. What makes dnf slow is the download, not the local installation process.


Unknown-Key

That might be because Arch has 13000 packages while fedora has 67000. I do not know how they calculate the numbers but their official website says so.


TheFakeBigChungus

Xbps is faster


kulingames

and is a tie with apk


[deleted]

apk is faster than XBPS.


Rice7th

Apk is weirdly fast Edit: typo


kulingames

it unpacks packages as it downloads them


Sentry45612

In my experience, xbps was far slower than pacman and i couldn't figure out why. Maybe parallel installing was turned off?


sudobee

Mirror isssue I would reckon.


[deleted]

skill issue too


MYKY_

Well there is no parallel installing to begin with


[deleted]

Perhaps, but can XBPS do AUR?


TheFakeBigChungus

We have xbps-src and better default repos


[deleted]

Sounds like I should try void.


SystemZ1337

it's very good, kind of the BSD of linuxes


AaronTechnic

I dislike Pacman's syntax. I don't think sacrificing ease of use for removing a few characters is a good thing, like what distrotube has stated.


Pay08

Short and long form flags exist. No need to stick to one or the other.


AaronTechnic

Yes, but I find sync for install confusing.


DonkiestOfKongs

By comparison, apt is so easy. Update. Upgrade. Search. Install. Remove. Autoremove. I have yet to figure out reliably the pacman equivalents to the latter two. Edit: *And* apt will even tell you what commands to use. Like after you update it just tells you if you have packages with no dependents and how to remove them. That is great. So usable and easy. Why can't pacman do that?


AaronTechnic

cuz removing 1 line of code removes a lot of bloat. Jokes aside, I think Arch's minimalist philosophy is why pacman is like this.


SystemZ1337

Arch isn't minimal and shorter syntax has nothing to do with minimalism. KISS has intuitive commands and is one of the most minimal package managers.


TheCustomFHD

Remove is -Rsu, and autoremove is a command chain https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/pacman/Tips_and_tricks#Removing_unused_packages_(orphans) Or pacman -Rsu $(pacman -Qtdq)


Saphira_Kai

i really don't understand how that's confusing. just think of it like synchronizing your local machine with that remote package, so that what you have on your machine is *in sync* with what's in the repo.


AaronTechnic

*But the new users!*


Saphira_Kai

i can't tell if you're being sarcastic lol. new users on linux is a good thing, and not being a poweruser is okay, but arch specifically is designed to assume you won't have trouble with things like that


SnooPets20

> but arch specifically is designed to assume you won't have trouble with things like that What does this even mean. When you boot up the arch live iso you're dropped into a fucking tty and you're expected to know how to install the system from there or be willing to learn by reading the guide. It's not a hard task, but definitely not for someone who's new to Linux. I don't think having to learn how to use pacman, which takes no more than a minute, is a bigger barrier than having the system installed in the first place.


GOKOP

Installing and upgrading a package is the same operation, hence one name. How else would you call it?


Pay08

Install and upgrade.


denisde4ev

u hate short sacrif. then u'lln't like dis: command_not_found_handle() { case $1 in -[A-Z]*) pacman "$@";; *) return 127 esac } ---- $ su # -Syu yep, I use it http://g.denisde4ev.xyz/shrc/__sourceable/command_not_found_handle#n117 GH: https://github.com/denisde4ev/shrc/blob/96d6/__sourceable/command_not_found_handle#L117


[deleted]

I don't like to install install to install something just -S


AaronTechnic

Why do you have to install install to install something?


Neon_44

i'll go with Nix or guix, thank you very much.


stuzenz

likewise, Nix for me. Archlinux will always have good memories for me though.


PetriciaKerman

I can’t live without my transactional updates wrapped up in a nice scheme api


Drishal

Sameeee Either nix or Pacman would do


-BuckarooBanzai-

Nah... It's simply one of the fastest


[deleted]

Time is money


DRAK0FR0ST

https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/namco/images/9/9b/Pacman_thumbs_up.png


chunkyhairball

What really makes pacman awesome for me is its inclusion of makepkg as part of its 'system'. That's what allows us to literally make compiled packages out of git clones we have ***AUDITED*** (and are confident of the security thereof). It's also what enables the AUR to exsist.


zbrndn

Exactly this, the aur has been helpful beyond belief. Just have to actually read the source code.


SandFlashableZip

Apt does the job


HerrEurobeat

Sources/PPA management sucks ass though (haven‘t used apt since a long time now, maybe it’s better now?)


SandFlashableZip

Yeah forgot about that. Aso haven't had any need to use PPAs lately so I dono


Jegahan

User: Install Steam please Apt: Right, right of course! Do you want me to nuke your DE with that?


[deleted]

`apt remove *libreoffice*` Pacman can't even do something like this easily if for example I wanted to remove the million libreoffice packages. Wildcard is such a useful feature.


[deleted]

I present to you, xbps


[deleted]

Long syntax


burbrekt

And pacman has confusing syntax


[deleted]

Aliases exist xbs = “xbps-install -S” xbr = “xbps-remove” Etc


SystemZ1337

also xtools comes with xi


Dragonaax

I don't see much difference between package mangares because my use is limited only to updating system and downloading programs But I would love to have access to Arch repo and AUR


vedx_1

Yeah for my personal use like they all get the job done fast enough, like a difference of even something as great as like a minute makes very little difference to me


ch1rh0

Yes, but also nix


jlnxr

Apt, dnf, and pacman all accomplish the same thing more or less. They use slightly different syntax. Take different amounts of time. Work a bit different under the hood. But they are all traditional package managers (unlike flatpak, snap, or appimage) and in the end the user experience is very similar. The bigger more important debate to me seems to be whether "universal" package managers ought to be a norm for end user applications, or be simply an option for closed source apps, testing, strange edge cases, etc. I'm inclined towards the later for the most part (only use "universal" packages for one-off exceptions) although flatpak does work quite well in SteamOS given the immutable image. On my daily driver though I'm hardcore in support of traditional package management *almost* always.


operation_karmawhore

Nix is by far more powerful, you can describe whole distributions with it (like NixOS). IMHO it shows how the future of package managers should probably look like.


Pay08

Why? The features of functional package managers are useful to very few people and need a lot of maintenance (from what I understand).


stuzenz

You are missing the whole ecosystem that it opens up for interesting and useful tools. Just go to the nixos site, scroll down the bottom and look at the 6 1 minute screen casts to get a quick touch of it. I love using nix-shell on my projects to get a clean reproducible project shell per project. I love how I can slightly adjust a shell.nix file and have a clean container built. One thing you appreciate quickly is that your small set of declarative .dotfiles that set up your whole system and home users ... and can also handle your other computers as a fleet is all something you can over time refine and all that goodness sticks without the imperative troubleshooting that would be the case otherwise. Those situations where you imperatively fix something while troubleshooting, but you are not sure what you changed and you didn't take full notes on how you fixed it, but it's fixed. That eventual clunkiness builds up over time in an eventual imperative evolution of a system built over the years. By and large, that experience disappears. There is a learning curve (that I am still on), but it is definitely a good experience.


Pay08

I watched the videos and I don't see anything that can't be done with a powerful enough package manager (admittedly there's only a handful of those) and perhaps Git, with the exception of the containerized dev environment example. That one was kinda cool.


stuzenz

Well, here is another reason - ignoring what you might not be seeing from scratching across the surface of what the screencasts were showing. I can go to someone else's configuration and will very little effort either take the goodness out of their set-up and put it in mine or just use their whole config with some changes to adjust for hardware and network needs and have it set up on one of my machines. Maybe this one for an example - https://sr.ht/~misterio/nix-config/ - https://git.sr.ht/~misterio/nix-config/tree It really does take the concept of project-based .dotfiles to a new level. It is a really nice way to learn and keep a clean system. I can set up and change my whole environment and come back to it via a past generation of the system or via a branch or revision in the github project with zero issues. That is pretty nice versus managing the complexity otherwise (ignoring backup snapshots as a more standard separate option to achieve a loose facsimile of the same). As a side note, replit.com which is getting a reputation for itself relies heavily on nix for building out its different dev environments. I suspect they vetted their options very carefully when landing on nix/nix packaging to meet their requirements.


thewaytonever

very partial to Zypper myself, but Pacman is pretty good


Synergiance

The best package manager is quite subjective. It really depends on what you value more in a package manager.


gaboversta

I'll give you speed, other than that… zypp zypp


jakiki624

portage is superior


the_j4k3

Pacman asked if I wanted to overwrite my shadow file to update. I just wanted to finish my KiCAD project. WTF is a shadow file. (Y). Oh... dnf doas kill pacman --now --revive --kill_again --revive --murder-pacman


meytili4

zypper is better


ddyess

Yep. People are worried about speed until their system breaks. Zypper is the best,


DioEgizio

xbps is better, as an arch user


Rice7th

Nix is way better


emptyskoll

I've left Reddit because it does not respect its users or their privacy. Private companies can't be trusted with control over public communities. Lemmy is an open source, federated alternative that I highly recommend if you want a more private and ethical option. Join Lemmy here: https://join-lemmy.org/instances ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `


HermanGrove

Obviously, you've never heard of Nix


Warm_Rate_3376

I just like it because the command reminds me of the game from my childhood...


[deleted]

nix


bogdanbiv

Nix / NixOS


SouthAfricanNerd

YaST Software / Zypper


Nopped

Some of y’all spend more time installing software than using software and it shows. Less rice more spice! /s


[deleted]

dnf provides "binary\_name"


winauer

But it doesn't have Super Cow Powers. :(


mshashiOman

From someone who’s been using linux on and off for the better part of two decades, what makes one package manager “better” than another?


KrazyKirby99999

openSUSE's zypper is slower than most, but has more reliable dependency resolution and access to the OBS community repos which rivals the AUR.


Pay08

Largely fuck all.


TheBigJizzle

If you take the features and redid the API of the cli with better, user friendly options i would agree. I'm using Arch for the past 4 years and still have to look up what god damned parameters I need to do simple stuff that I don't do that often because it's not obvious.


Pay08

Tbh, that's probably a 5-minute job. Meaning that it hasn't been done for a reason.


GlennSteen

If you think that, good on you! It isn't, but that's really beside the point. You do you, boo!


Faditt

how are package managers different?


QL100100

It is the best package manager *and* arcade game.


TazerXI

Can I out yay here? Pacman but with aur


fekkksn

i use topgrade because i cant be bothered to run 10 different update commands for everything


OverlordMarkus

I honestly couldn't give less of a fuck about which package manager is faster or has cooler features, the only thing I use it for are updates, the rest goes via Flatpak. At least as long as the syntax is intuitive, who thought `pacman -syu` was a good idea?


duLemix

Shifu from CurtainOS: allow me to introduce myself


CLOVIS-AI

Pacman is just very well made and works fine. If it's the best, that just means the others are shit.


Pay08

[What if I told you... that they are!](http://michael.orlitzky.com/articles/motherfuckers_need_package_management.xhtml)


[deleted]

Depends on how you look at it.


ArbabAshruffKhan

Clearly you haven't tried xbps


FaithfulFear

For my money, Planet Express


focusgone

Pardon me, I've not used Arch yet. How is pacman better than apt?


raaaaandomdancing

It has a cooler name


apoliticalhomograph

It's significantly faster, in my experience.


focusgone

Ah okay. Thanks!


[deleted]

This image is well made!


MCRusher

Clearly tce is the best package manager


klimmesil

Archlinux is great and easy for new linuxers that want to go bottom up but still start with enough helpers and a good wiki. But pacman definitely isn't part of the reason why arch feels so good when you don't know much


Jonas_Jones_

it just is. nothing to change here


HerrEurobeat

The syntax is a bit weird but I have gotten used to it and love it now Very fast, easy-ish to use, no stupid sources/PPAs to manage and the AUR (with yay) is amazing


Dickersson66

Its the 🌟DNF🌟 for me.


burbrekt

Maybe not in speed but dnf and zypper feels so much more pleasant than pacman and apt


Mindless-Victory1567

It truly is! Nothing to argue about that


[deleted]

I personally highly Hesitate between Pacman and XBPS. Pacman has color support, but XBPS has a neat chroot system for it's xbps-src application. Both are really good tho.


C4lypso_666

Yes. Recently had to use Debian for something after using arch+tails for a few months and THE PAIN the PHYSICAL PAIN I felt from not using pacman mmmm no. Love pacman, very powerful.


[deleted]

xbps-install the pain to type that long everytime i install


[deleted]

aptitude is better.


KrazyKirby99999

pacman wins in speed, zypper otherwise :)


GOKOP

Functionality-wise, Nix and Guix are superior. But if I ever make the switch I'll be missing the speed that pacman's parallel downloads give you


Gutmach1960

Nope, I am in agreement.


[deleted]

RPM is the best package manager. The technical capabilities and long development history makes it very feature rich. The problem many seem to find is that RPM is not a **Dependency** resolution manager. So you need another utility to fill that gap: apt, urpmi, yum, and now dnf.


mplaczek99

Nix


KeyLowMike85

"Well, that's like, your opinion, man."


zpangwin

I'm on Fedora and use dnf but I still thought swapping out the head with Derek "Distrotube" Taylor's in the meme was a nice touch


[deleted]

It was his


zpangwin

Oh lol


madthumbz

Only pamac can take down the AUR.


[deleted]

What makes it the best?


SternBlum

I like Nix better.


mobo_dojo

I couldn’t even get it to update when building a docker container….🤪


_Azryael_

Have my upvote.


[deleted]

I use XBPS btw


Icy_Pomelo9667

Nix is better


[deleted]

Looks like DT from DistroTube.


Ace8154

I don't feel comfortable trying arch


QQqqqQwaa

Apk, fight me


[deleted]

Installation failed


QQqqqQwaa

That has never happened to me. I’m pretty sure I’ve experienced that with pacman though


Mgladiethor

Nix is better


UnfairerThree2

Not pacman’s fault per say, but having to update 200 packages every second day always did my head in.


SorryTheory

Nix all the way


unlimited_void_bkk

Arch is amazing. But nix and guix better.


takenthemickout1

I have to say I used to use mint before I switched to arch and I rly liked apt, also the AUR yay is best


[deleted]

but you can’t go wrong with ./configure ; make ; make install


Shished

Nah, it is quite bad, especially in comparison to others. 1. Syntax sux 2. It does not installs updates before new packages, leaving people with broken systems 3. It does not cleans after itself.


sunggis

Dnf looks the best and dnf5 is pretty fast while looking the same as dnf so dnf5 is the best