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nschoe

Member

Registered: 2009-10-29

Posts: 23

Website

What is ABS for ? What differs from using pacman ?

Hi,

I think my question is pretty basic and easy, so I thought his place were in the Beginner's Corner.
I'd like to know what is ABS for ?

I was reading the AUR Guideline that explains how to build packages from the AUR, then I saw a link to ABS page, I followed it and read the whole. That seemed interesting and useful for the future, so I installed it via 'pacman -S abs', I built the Tree with 'abs' as root-user.
But then I needed to install setconf, which is in the AUR. But before downloading the TARBALL from the AUR package list, I wanted to see if I could installed it "via" (inappropriate term, I know) ABS.
But actually, there's no way I can find 'setconf' in any of my /var/abs/XXX folders. Then I realized (yeah my brain sometimes works slowly ) that the category were the official ones (Core, Extra, Community, plus Testing) : these are the four that are in my REPOS variable in /etc/abs.conf.

But what I don't understand is : if those packages are the same that are available from pacman, what is ABS for ? Did I miss something ? Is there something we can add to the REPOS variable in order to get packages from the AUR ? What are my possibilities then to install setconf ?

Sorry if it's a real newbie question, but I simply cannot get it, for the moment, ABS appears to me like a simple alternative to pacman, and I'm definitely sure I'm wrong so I'd like to understand ^^

Thanks to those who will take some time to answer me, if you need any details, please ask.

Regards,

nschoe.

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The important thing is not to stop questioning.
If you can't explain something simply, you don't know enough about it.

ngoonee

Forum Fellow

From: Between Thailand and Singapore

Registered: 2009-03-17

Posts: 7,356

Re: What is ABS for ? What differs from using pacman ?

ABS allows you to RE-build packages which are in the repos. Perhaps you'd want to add/remove a compile option (for example, mpd would need --enable-pulse for me) , or add your own patch. You may just want to compile with your own CFLAGs for optimization purposes.

AUR is for packages which AREN'T in the repos, for example no dev wants to take care of ati's binary drivers so its there.

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Allan-Volunteer on the (topic being discussed) mailn lists. You never get the people who matters attention on the forums.
jasonwryan-Installing Arch is a measure of your literacy. Maintaining Arch is a measure of your diligence. Contributing to Arch is a measure of your competence.
Griemak-Bleeding edge, not bleeding flat. Edge denotes falls will occur from time to time. Bring your own parachute.

.:B:.

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2006-11-26

Posts: 5,819

Website

Re: What is ABS for ? What differs from using pacman ?

AUR != ABS. I suggest you check the wiki, it's thoroughly documented. If the wiki doesn't have it, use the forum search, if the forum search doesn't have it, use Google. If Google doesn't have it, think about posting a question on the forum .

I think it's quite obvious for the both of us - while you're most welcome to join this community we do appreciate some minimal user effort. Ergo: closing.

Edit: dammit ngoonee

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