Why would I want to use ABS instead of AUR?

pluckypigeon · 2009-01-26 00:55:02

Sorry if I sound stupid but are ABS and AUR two different ways to install the same thing?

I've been going over the wiki over and over again and I don't understand why I would want to use both ABS and AUR .

Could someone help clear it up for me?

Once again I apologise.

tdy · 2009-01-26 01:00:35

pluckypigeon wrote:

Sorry if I sound stupid but are ABS and AUR two different ways to install the same thing?

ABS and AUR aren't ways to install anything. They just allow you to retrieve PKGBUILDs. You build+install packages on your system with those PKGBUILDs via makepkg.

ABS -> official repo PKGBUILDs (packages that are accessible via pacman)
AUR -> user contributed PKGBUILDs

Last edited by tdy (2009-01-26 01:03:26)

pluckypigeon · 2009-01-26 01:04:08

tdy wrote:

pluckypigeon wrote:
Sorry if I sound stupid but are ABS and AUR two different ways to install the same thing?
ABS and AUR aren't ways to install anything. They just allow you to retrieve PKGBUILDs. You build+install the packages on your system via those PKGBUILDs.
ABS -> official repo PKGBUILDs (packages that are accessible via pacman)
AUR -> user contributed PKGBUILDs

Ok. Thank you. I understand what you are saying.

So I take it ABS and pacman would have the same PKGBUILDS then. If I use pacman instead of ABS or ABS instead of pacman what is the difference on the final outcome?

tom5760 · 2009-01-26 01:12:15

pluckypigeon wrote:

So I take it ABS and pacman would have the same PKGBUILDS then. If I use pacman instead of ABS or ABS instead of pacman what is the difference on the final outcome?

If you did not modify the PKGBUILDs at all, then there would be no difference in the end result. Pacman lets you download pre-built binaries, while with ABS, you'd have to compile them yourself. ABS is useful if you want to recompile a program with different options that the original package uses, or if you want to compile an older/newer version of a program than is in the official repositories.

For the most part, just use pacman to install stuff, unless the program is not in the official repositories, then check AUR. If you need to customize a program you got from pacman, use ABS to get its PKGBUILD and recompile it.

tdy · 2009-01-26 01:14:16

pluckypigeon wrote:

So I take it ABS and pacman would have the same PKGBUILDS then. If I use pacman instead of ABS or ABS instead of pacman what is the difference on the final outcome?

pacman just installs precompiled packages from the devs/TUs. It doesn't "have" PKGBUILDs. If you get a PKGBUILD via ABS and build it yourself, it will be compiled from source for your system.

Last edited by tdy (2009-01-26 01:15:11)

pluckypigeon · 2009-01-26 01:17:24

Thanks alot people, and sorry for being a pest.:rolleyes:

Xyne · 2009-01-26 01:25:37

tom5760 wrote:

pluckypigeon wrote:
So I take it ABS and pacman would have the same PKGBUILDS then. If I use pacman instead of ABS or ABS instead of pacman what is the difference on the final outcome?
If you did not modify the PKGBUILDs at all, then there would be no difference in the end result. Pacman lets you download pre-built binaries, while with ABS, you'd have to compile them yourself. ABS is useful if you want to recompile a program with different options that the original package uses, or if you want to compile an older/newer version of a program than is in the official repositories.

That's not entirely accurate. You can set compilation flags in makepkg.conf to use compilation instructions that are specific to your system. With those set, the compiled package may be different than the standard one even if you haven't changed anything in the PKGBUILD. The official repo packages are compiled with generic flags that enable them to work on most systems.

That stated, I agree with tom5760 that you should generally just use the binaries in the repos unless you have a good reason to do otherwise. It's unlikely that you would notice a difference for most packages.

tom5760 · 2009-01-26 03:13:49

Xyne wrote:

That's not entirely accurate.

Yeah you are right. Good thing to point out.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-01-26 00:55:02

Why would I want to use ABS instead of AUR?

#2 2009-01-26 01:00:35

Re: Why would I want to use ABS instead of AUR?

#3 2009-01-26 01:04:08

Re: Why would I want to use ABS instead of AUR?

#4 2009-01-26 01:12:15

Re: Why would I want to use ABS instead of AUR?

#5 2009-01-26 01:14:16

Re: Why would I want to use ABS instead of AUR?

#6 2009-01-26 01:17:24

Re: Why would I want to use ABS instead of AUR?

#7 2009-01-26 01:25:37

Re: Why would I want to use ABS instead of AUR?

#8 2009-01-26 03:13:49

Re: Why would I want to use ABS instead of AUR?

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