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#1 2009-02-27 15:43:30

completist
Member
From: /media/knock_knock
Registered: 2009-02-21
Posts: 62

pacman vs. abs

pretty new to arch. 

I've installed a few programs using pacman and a few with abs so far.

1. Are there any advantages of one over the other?
2. Will using     pacman -Syu    update packages installed with abs?
3. Can I delete data in build location after using abs?

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#2 2009-02-27 15:54:17

iBertus
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From: Greenville, NC
Registered: 2004-11-04
Posts: 2,228

Re: pacman vs. abs

You are comparing apples and oranges! ABS is a way of building custom packages using PKGBUILDs, while pacman is the package manager that keeps track of the installed packages. So, even if you use ABS to build a package, you must use pacman to install it. The two do not implement the same functionality.

Second, no, any custom build package will need to be manually updated.

Third, yes, you can delete the build directory of a package after the package is built. All you need to reinstall in the future is the .pkg.tar.gz file.

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#3 2009-02-27 15:56:04

tom5760
Member
From: Philadelphia, PA, USA
Registered: 2006-02-05
Posts: 283
Website

Re: pacman vs. abs

completist wrote:

pretty new to arch.

Welcome!

completist wrote:

1. Are there any advantages of one over the other?

Unless you need to customize the compilation of packages (changing configure flags, etc) you can just install the binary packages with pacman.

completist wrote:

2. Will using     pacman -Syu    update packages installed with abs?

It will update a package you installed with abs with a binary version from the repositories.  It will not automatically recompile your packages for you.

completist wrote:

3. Can I delete data in build location after using abs?

Yes, but if you changed the PKGBUILD, you probably want to save that somewhere.

EDIT:

iBertus above makes a good point.  ABS and Pacman are two separate tools.  ABS helps you build packages, pacman installs them.

Last edited by tom5760 (2009-02-27 15:57:35)

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#4 2009-02-27 16:53:39

completist
Member
From: /media/knock_knock
Registered: 2009-02-21
Posts: 62

Re: pacman vs. abs

Thanks for clearing that up, I was thinking they both had same job just different way.

iBertus wrote:

So, even if you use ABS to build a package, you must use pacman to install it. The two do not implement the same functionality.

Thus the     pacman -U <filename>.pkg.tar.gz

thanks again.

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#5 2009-02-27 17:08:49

Inxsible
Forum Fellow
From: Chicago
Registered: 2008-06-09
Posts: 9,183

Re: pacman vs. abs

Also, don't forget that there is yet another repo (sort of) the AUR -- where you can use packages that other users have uploaded. You can use their PKGBUILDs to install some software tongue


Forum Rules

There's no such thing as a stupid question, but there sure are a lot of inquisitive idiots !

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#6 2009-02-27 17:09:27

rson451
Member
From: Annapolis, MD USA
Registered: 2007-04-15
Posts: 1,233
Website

Re: pacman vs. abs

Since you are new to arch, I'd like to point out one thing that you may not have noticed.  Official arch tools tend to have names that describe what they do; for a few examples: pacman is pacage management, abs is arch build system, and netcfg is network configuration (cfg).  Many community projects exist to make your life easier such as yoaurt, arson, and archassistant to name a few, but as you can see they don't really describe what they do.  Of course this isn't always the case, but keep it in mind as you get advice from people.


archlinux - please read this and this — twice — then ask questions.
--
http://rsontech.net | http://github.com/rson

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