[SOLVED] arch philosophy

keen90 · 2011-07-13 20:53:47

Hello archians

I am currently using a relatively customized Crux Linux but it tends to be very time consuming to install greater programs at least when you compile them from source code, only.
so I am currently looking for a alternative. I read a bit in the wiki and forum and arch looks quite much like what I've been searching for. I'd just like to know some attitudes of archers towards certain points (Most of them concerning pacman)/ Attributes of the Arch system in general

*Are kernel updates managed by pacman? I'd like to avoid setting up arch from scratch after each greater kernel release.
*Arch seems to install a kernel with rather many features enabled, asume I'd like to customize the kernel, is this intended or should the typical arch user better not touch the kernel.
*Pacman -suy (if that are the params for "update all") after or longer period of no updates seems to lead to trouble from time to time. What do you recommend? Update only what you needs to be updated, or update as often as possible to keep the change list small?
*In case a program is not supported by pacman and i install it manually (the good old compiling from source way) will this confuse pacman?
*Will my Arch Linux grow and become slower by time/ Does pacman remove packets free of residues in case I uninstall a package?

Well this should be the main questins bugging me before I consider a distro change,

Regards,
Keen

Last edited by keen90 (2011-07-14 07:48:13)

karol · 2011-07-13 21:11:59

1. I don't understand the first point.
2. You can customize your kernel if you want, many Archers do.
3. I think updating once a week is a sensible option (and it's 'pacman -Syu' - a capital 'S').
4. Pacman won't see the packages you './configure && make && make install' (and yes, you can say it may confuse him) unless you write a PKGBUILD for them - see the wiki. Be sure to check out AUR, because chances are somebody already did that for you.
5. How much space it takes and how fast your system is running are two different things, although undoubtedly a full-blown KDE is both bigger and needs much more power than dwm ;P Pacman will remove packages that were installed as a dependency for the package you want to remove, if none other package needs them.
If package A needs package B, which in turn needs package C and no other packages need those three (A, B and C), you generally install and uninstall all of them in one go. pacman tries not to leave any "dangling" packages that are not needed anymore.

Last edited by karol (2011-07-13 21:16:10)

tomk · 2011-07-13 21:20:29

I'll take a stab at question 1.

Yes, kernel updates are handled by pacman, but I don't know where you're getting the idea that each kernel upgrade necessitates "setting up arch from scratch" again. This doesn't happen on any distro.

Silicontoad · 2011-07-13 22:55:32

tomk wrote:

I'll take a stab at question 1.
Yes, kernel updates are handled by pacman, but I don't know where you're getting the idea that each kernel upgrade necessitates "setting up arch from scratch" again. This doesn't happen on any distro.

... some things may break with kernel upgrade but hardly "setting up ... from scratch", i.e. ati graphic drivers may need recompiling, some bug may get introduced, and that's why you would wait for a patch on kernel or roll-back to your existing kernel version if the bug really sux for immediate use. Even if your running LFS linux a kernel upgrade would not require you to reconfigure everything from scratch :-)

chemicalfan · 2011-07-14 01:49:39

I think Arch will suit you just fine, it's more about choice than any other distro. It's like Slack, in that you choose what's on your system, and it's got the flexibility of compiling as much or as little as you'd like to (you can use 100% binaries or 100% source, and any percentage between!) Add the AUR in - basically and automatic compilation into packages system - and you've got the flexibility to do whatever you want with your system! Oh, and it's bleeding edge, which has it's ups and downs, but no-one's forcing you to update packages

hauzer · 2011-07-14 05:08:41

0. We are Archers.
1. If you use the default kernel, it will just be downloaded and automatically updated every time. If you use a custom kernel, you'll have to compile it every time, of course, but the system updating will remain the same if you use the default PKGBUILD. You should read about ABS on the wiki.
2. You can do anything you want with your system, although some things are not encouraged. This is not one of them.
3. I update every time I boot into my system, and I reboot frequently. Generally, it depends on your internet connection and preference. Updating less frequently (once in two weeks, for example) will download less data overall.
4. It will not confuse pacman. It is recommended to install non-pacman programs in /usr/local/. Anyhow, you should really never do that, as making a package is a breeze with ABS.
5. You can choose to free the package cache whenever you like. Pacman by default removes everything but configuration when uninstalling a package, although making it remove everything is just a letter on the command line.

KlavKalashj · 2011-07-14 05:47:59

4. You should look for an AUR helper. It's an application that makes installing from AUR easier. For example, I use yaourt. Yaourt can handle both AUR and normal repositories, so I use the same commands. Yaourt -Syu also upgrades aur packages.

cybertorture · 2011-07-14 06:47:15

@KlavKalashj i think yaourt -Syu --aur wasn't it ?

hauzer · 2011-07-14 07:16:14

No. I think there is an option in the yaourt configuration which makes AUR default or not.

keen90 · 2011-07-14 07:35:43

First of all:
Thank you very much for the fast and detailed answers. I think this is more then I expected to get.

6.) I'd like to mark the thread as solved, could someone tell me how I can do this. ;-)

jasonwryan · 2011-07-14 07:42:08

6. Just edit your original post and append it to the title

7. Welcome to the boards.

Mr.Elendig · 2011-07-14 11:41:02

2. Even if over 9000 modules are enabled in the kernel config, that doesn't mean that they are all loaded. Generally only modules that are actually needed to use your system are loaded at runtime. That said, making a custom kernel using abs/makepkg is rather easy.

3. never do partial updates. Always update the whole system. and ofcourse take care of all .pacnew files etc. And if you follow this you will rarely have any issues with upgrades.

4. Use makepkg/pacman

5. Depends entirely on you and you hw. (eg a ssd without trim will become slow really fast). Pacman will remove any file that was in a package, it will not remove files created at runtime, that is your job. (not that just having files on the system will slow it down noticably)

Arch Linux

#1 2011-07-13 20:53:47

[SOLVED] arch philosophy

#2 2011-07-13 21:11:59

Re: [SOLVED] arch philosophy

#3 2011-07-13 21:20:29

Re: [SOLVED] arch philosophy

#4 2011-07-13 22:55:32

Re: [SOLVED] arch philosophy

#5 2011-07-14 01:49:39

Re: [SOLVED] arch philosophy

#6 2011-07-14 05:08:41

Re: [SOLVED] arch philosophy

#7 2011-07-14 05:47:59

Re: [SOLVED] arch philosophy

#8 2011-07-14 06:47:15

Re: [SOLVED] arch philosophy

#9 2011-07-14 07:16:14

Re: [SOLVED] arch philosophy

#10 2011-07-14 07:35:43

Re: [SOLVED] arch philosophy

#11 2011-07-14 07:42:08

Re: [SOLVED] arch philosophy

#12 2011-07-14 11:41:02

Re: [SOLVED] arch philosophy

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