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#1 2021-05-02 16:34:23

Conusoid
Member
Registered: 2021-05-02
Posts: 10

Is it safe to install packages without updating the system? [SOLVED]

I'm usually updating/upgrading arch with 'sudo pacman -Syu' once a week to have relatively stable system. Obviously sometimes i need to install some new packages so i'm using 'sudo pacman -S'. Is there any risks or downsides of it? like those caused by 'pacman -Sy' updates?
Did not find answer to this specific question anywhere even in this forum (though search here is not working in some cases and gives me 'time-out' message).
Yes, i'm new to arch and yes, you can keep your 'wanna stability? use debian' smile
Anyway thanks for your answers in advance and sorry if it's a duplicate topic.

Last edited by Conusoid (2021-05-02 17:58:31)

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#2 2021-05-02 16:50:45

archimboldo
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Registered: 2016-03-07
Posts: 232

Re: Is it safe to install packages without updating the system? [SOLVED]


Rules for problems.
Everyone has problems. Animals have problems. And buildings. And cats, and trees.
Problems are your friends. Treat them well.

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#3 2021-05-02 17:01:54

GaKu999
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From: US/Eastern
Registered: 2020-06-21
Posts: 696

Re: Is it safe to install packages without updating the system? [SOLVED]

Partial upgrades are unsupported as stated ^.

For installing a new package 'S $pkg' is the way to go.
When a specific package version is not in the repos anymore, then its time to 'Syu'.
Simple as that.


My reposSome snippets

Heisenberg might have been here.

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#4 2021-05-02 17:29:56

Conusoid
Member
Registered: 2021-05-02
Posts: 10

Re: Is it safe to install packages without updating the system? [SOLVED]

I do undestand that some people just answering the subject but not reading question itself.
I've read that wiki page and it says about partial update what I mentioned in the context of bad consequences. But the question is about installing packages with 'sudo pacman -S' without any updating unwanted consequences. Is there any?

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#5 2021-05-02 17:39:59

teckk
Member
Registered: 2013-02-21
Posts: 518

Re: Is it safe to install packages without updating the system? [SOLVED]

installing packages with 'sudo pacman -S' without any updating unwanted consequences. Is there any?

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman

pacman -S <pkgname> will install that package and it's dependencies from the mirror in your /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist. That is the correct way to install a package. The info comes from pacmans database. /var/lib/pacman/sync

You can do that as long as you want. But, the longer you go without an update, the less likely that package version will still be on the mirror. Depends on what it is. The kernel sometimes updates 3 times a week. Some things don't update in 3 months.

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#6 2021-05-02 17:41:15

archimboldo
Member
Registered: 2016-03-07
Posts: 232

Re: Is it safe to install packages without updating the system? [SOLVED]

Conusoid wrote:

But the question is about installing packages with 'sudo pacman -S' without any updating unwanted consequences. Is there any?

No. If you update it once a week, you will be fine.


Rules for problems.
Everyone has problems. Animals have problems. And buildings. And cats, and trees.
Problems are your friends. Treat them well.

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#7 2021-05-02 17:54:42

Conusoid
Member
Registered: 2021-05-02
Posts: 10

Re: Is it safe to install packages without updating the system? [SOLVED]

Thank you very much for fast and informative response, guys!

Last edited by Conusoid (2021-05-02 17:55:43)

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#8 2021-05-02 18:27:58

ayekat
Member
Registered: 2011-01-17
Posts: 1,589

Re: Is it safe to install packages without updating the system? [SOLVED]

archimboldo wrote:
Conusoid wrote:

But the question is about installing packages with 'sudo pacman -S' without any updating unwanted consequences. Is there any?

No. If you update it once a week, you will be fine.

You can also be fine if you update less (or more) often. The frequency of updating doesn't really matter here.

As mentioned above by teckk and GaKu999, using `pacman -S {package}` is perfectly fine—until your local DB is outdated enough that the mirror no longer contains the package version you want (you'll hit 404s, and the correct solution there is -Syu).

Last edited by ayekat (2021-05-02 18:28:16)


pkgshackscfgblag

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#9 2021-05-02 19:37:26

schard
Member
From: Hannover
Registered: 2016-05-06
Posts: 1,933
Website

Re: Is it safe to install packages without updating the system? [SOLVED]

Conusoid wrote:

But the question is about installing packages with 'sudo pacman -S' without any updating unwanted consequences. Is there any?

Yes! Mirrors are being updated frenquently and arbitrarily. Hence are the packages hosted there. So by running pacman -S <package> you risk running into 404 Errors if the package has been updated in the meantime.
This won't break anything but can confuse newbies and costs time, since you'll need to subsequently run an update anyways. Therefore I recommend only installing new packages with pacman -Syu <package>.

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#10 2021-05-02 20:37:06

Conusoid
Member
Registered: 2021-05-02
Posts: 10

Re: Is it safe to install packages without updating the system? [SOLVED]

Dang it! I knew there's something like this sad But since it won't break anything I think I can take that risk. As far as I understand daily (or even more often) updating could cause serious time loss in some cases. I think the most rational would be to choose the lesser of two evils in terms of relative stability. There has to be some balance imo big_smile
I mean I'm already installed packages this way, but I did it with some concern. Now, with the information received from you, I have a much better idea of what I am doing. Thanks a lot!

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#11 2021-05-02 21:24:14

kokoko3k
Member
Registered: 2008-11-14
Posts: 2,390

Re: Is it safe to install packages without updating the system? [SOLVED]

schard wrote:
Conusoid wrote:

But the question is about installing packages with 'sudo pacman -S' without any updating unwanted consequences. Is there any?

Yes! Mirrors are being updated frenquently and arbitrarily. Hence are the packages hosted there. So by running pacman -S <package> you risk running into 404 Errors if the package has been updated in the meantime.
This won't break anything but can confuse newbies and costs time, since you'll need to subsequently run an update anyways. Therefore I recommend only installing new packages with pacman -Syu <package>.

The beautiful underrated feature of arch:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_Linux_Archive
Now used as a fallback in pacman.conf:

[core]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/packages/.all

[extra]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/packages/.all

[community]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/packages/.all

[multilib]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/packages/.all

Watch out for the missing security updates, tho.

Last edited by kokoko3k (2021-05-02 21:29:12)


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#12 2021-05-02 22:16:48

eschwartz
Fellow
Registered: 2014-08-08
Posts: 4,097

Re: Is it safe to install packages without updating the system? [SOLVED]

kokoko3k wrote:

The beautiful underrated feature of arch:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_Linux_Archive
Now used as a fallback in pacman.conf:

Indeed both beautiful and underrated. But, why not add it to the mirrorlist file once, rather than to every repository section?


Managing AUR repos The Right Way -- aurpublish (now a standalone tool)

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#13 2021-05-03 05:02:42

kokoko3k
Member
Registered: 2008-11-14
Posts: 2,390

Re: Is it safe to install packages without updating the system? [SOLVED]

It is a particular repo, so it deserves a particular place; just a matter of personal taste.

Are there any side effects in keeping it in pacman.conf?


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#14 2021-05-05 05:37:52

eschwartz
Fellow
Registered: 2014-08-08
Posts: 4,097

Re: Is it safe to install packages without updating the system? [SOLVED]

It isn't "a particular repo", though -- in fact, it isn't a repo at all, it is capable of resolving -S / -Su but completely incapable of resolving -Sy / -Syu (and in fact future versions of pacman will, upon getting 404 errors for core.db and a bunch more dbs, remove the Server from the current session and not try it for packages).

Are there any side effects in keeping 5-10 mirror urls hardcoded in pacman.conf instead of included via a mirrorlist?


Managing AUR repos The Right Way -- aurpublish (now a standalone tool)

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