List of changes in a packge

mosh · 2010-02-14 14:41:34

Hello,

Quick newbie question: How can I tell what was changed in a update I got through pacman? For example, Vim was updated yesterday. I looked in the package list and all it said was updates from upstream. Vim site is not very helpful. Is there a central location which describes the changes in all the packages? (Sorry for the comparison, but the update manager in Ubuntu gives a one line description (sometimes with a link), for every change in a package).
And the question behind it: Let's say you build a NAS, and it's working and it's stable. Would you update it with pacman in constant interval, or would you go with "if it's not broken, don't fix it" and only update if a new feature or a bug fix comes out (This is why I need to know what was changed in a package).

Thanks,
mosh.

pyther · 2010-02-14 15:07:26

There are two types of updates for arch. Version Bumps (new versions) or pkgrel bumps. Pkgrel bumps can results due to a minor change in the pkgbuild (removing a file or adding a patch) or having to recompile against a new lib. If the update is a new version you will need to go to upstream and find their changelog. If the update is a newer pkgrel (-1, -2, -3) than you can check the svn commit message and the diff to see what was change.

As for your second point. Not updating some arch packages is generally a bad idea. As all the packages are dynamically linked; when a new library is introduced other packages will stop working since it is linked against an older library.

mosh · 2010-02-14 15:30:47

Thanks for the quick reply. Let me rephrase the second question: If you have a working NAS machine, would you pacman -Syu at all, or only if there's a bug fix or a feature you need?

mosh.

jdarnold · 2010-02-14 15:51:15

Yeah, I've been wondering the same thing with my media server machine. I think because we are using a "rolling" release like Arch, you have to keep it up to date. But you don't have to do it hourly or even daily. Sometimes, due to lib changes, things can be in a bit of flux. I just wait until it is calmed down and then do the update, maybe once a week.

pyther · 2010-02-14 16:23:05

Well that ball is in your court. I would recommend updating so the server so it stays up to date, especially if it is being accessed from the outside world (internet). Also, if you don't update you won't be able to install new packages without breakage (incompatible libraries, etc...)

If you don't want to update your system another distro might be more suitable for your needs.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-02-14 14:41:34

List of changes in a packge

#2 2010-02-14 15:07:26

Re: List of changes in a packge

#3 2010-02-14 15:30:47

Re: List of changes in a packge

#4 2010-02-14 15:51:15

Re: List of changes in a packge

#5 2010-02-14 16:23:05

Re: List of changes in a packge

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