Is it possible to have more than one version of a program installed?

dan001 · 2015-10-09 11:12:07

Hello guys

This is my firsy post in these forums. I had a doubt to create this topic in NC. Apoligise if my choise is a bad one.

I am using arch near a month. Before choosing arch, I wanted to use gentoo because of mentioned property. But I choose arch finally for other reasons. Is it possible in arch?

Last edited by dan001 (2015-10-09 11:17:04)

mpan · 2015-10-09 16:10:13

Either build it manually with a different prefix or chroot.

karol · 2015-10-09 21:57:33

Why do you need it?

dan001 · 2015-10-11 15:14:37

My previous distro was debian (stable). it was very good in package managing. But pacman is better in my point of view, specially it has not a different repo for almost every package (I know, there is a bit exageration here). But arch is rolling release. In this way, you must update whole system. This is my idea: I can have stable and no-stable versions of a software/program/package to compare (the stability, features, maybe etc).

Last edited by dan001 (2015-10-11 15:17:47)

ooo · 2015-10-11 17:29:54

You can have only one version of a package installed on a same system, i.e. you can't install the same package with different version from [core] and [testing] on the same arch system.

as mpan suggested, as a workaround you can build different version on different prefix (or have a PKGBUILD that does that). another option would be creating arch system with [testing] enabled and chrooting to it.

dan001 · 2015-10-13 06:27:46

Thanks all. I will try them and think chroot is a bit better for me. I red PKGBUILD and makepkg pages. But it seems that setting suitable libraries for two versions of a package takes more times.

olive · 2015-10-13 08:07:55

Arch does not support several versions of a package. Be careful with the prefix. A lot of files commonly found in packages (among other desktop and icons files) don't respect the prefix. Unless you are extra careful you can very easily mess your system. The chroot method keep every clean but you have to install a whole system in your chroot, not only a single package. Have you a specific package in mind where you need two versions?

dan001 · 2015-10-13 08:53:22

Sure.I have a experience about chroot to an OS in debian. I can do it. As the example, Nautilus can be an example for me. Some features (as backspace shortcut) are not ON for nautilus when I installed it by hinting of Wiki. Whereas in past versions it was on (or GO option also). Absolutely We can do them by hand. This is only an example and maybe my target for doing this is not very important. But, I think like you: If want to do this, chroot likes to best answer.

Arch Linux

#1 2015-10-09 11:12:07

Is it possible to have more than one version of a program installed?

#2 2015-10-09 16:10:13

Re: Is it possible to have more than one version of a program installed?

#3 2015-10-09 21:57:33

Re: Is it possible to have more than one version of a program installed?

#4 2015-10-11 15:14:37

Re: Is it possible to have more than one version of a program installed?

#5 2015-10-11 17:29:54

Re: Is it possible to have more than one version of a program installed?

#6 2015-10-13 06:27:46

Re: Is it possible to have more than one version of a program installed?

#7 2015-10-13 08:07:55

Re: Is it possible to have more than one version of a program installed?

#8 2015-10-13 08:53:22

Re: Is it possible to have more than one version of a program installed?

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