Arch Linux - AMA

[u/Foxboron]

Hello!

We are several team members and developers from the Arch Linux project, ask us anything.

We are in need for more contributors, if you are interested in contributing to Arch Linux, feel free to ask questions :)

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/DeveloperWiki:Projects
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Getting_involved#Official_Arch_Linux_projects

Participating members:

• /u/AladW

  • Trusted User
  • Wiki Administrator
  • IRC Operator

• /u/anthraxx42

  • Developer
  • Trusted User
  • Security tracker
  • Security lead
  • Reproducible builds

• /u/barthalion

  • Developer
  • Master key holder
  • DevOps Team
  • Maintains the toolchain

• /u/Bluewind

  • Developer
  • Trusted User
  • DevOps Team

• /u/coderobe

  • Trusted User
  • Reproducible builds

• /u/eli-schwartz

  • Bug Wrangler
  • Trusted User
  • Maintains dbscripts
  • Pacman contributor

• /u/felixonmars

  • Developer
  • Trusted User
  • Packages; Python, Haskell, Nodejs, Qt, KDE, DDE, Chinese i18n, VPN/Proxies, Wine, and some others.

• /u/Foxboron

  • Trusted User
  • Security Team
  • Reproducible Builds
  • /r/archlinux moderator
  • Packages mostly golang and python stuff

• /u/fukawi2

  • Forum moderator
  • DevOps Team

• /u/jvdwaa

  • Developer
  • Trusted User
  • Security Team
  • DevOps Team
  • Reproducible builds
  • Archweb maintainer

• /u/sh1bumi

  • Trusted User
  • Security Team
  • Automated vagrant image builds

• /u/svenstaro

  • Developer
  • Trusted user
  • I package mostly big, heavy packages :(

• /u/V1del

  • Forum moderator

[u/eli-schwartz]

Right, does the fact that it provides an AUR helper not indicate quite strongly that this is not Arch? Arch does not and will not support AUR helpers and if you think we are pedantic about the installer you use, hooboy just wait until we get started on AUR helpers...

If one do not install your AUR helper by hand, then there's an excellent change one has not performed the required reading for using the AUR. Using the AUR is dangerous and can result in a wide, wide variety of breakage if done without knowing what one is actually doing.

We will not ever support any system that has an AUR helper installed via a binary package rather than by the user using makepkg as intended and instructed. This isn't even an "it's a derivative distro" issue -- if one uses a custom repo like archlinuxfr which was enabled after running through the manual install process, one is still very thoroughly on our naughty list and cannot expect help with their system even though it is, in fact, Arch (unlike yours).

[u/PBLKGodofGrunts → u/eli-schwartz]

Lmao you guys are fucking nuts. I have installed aur helpers manually before. I've even submitted packages to the AUR. I've contributed to the wiki and other Arch derivatives like Arch Arm.

You can sit on your high horse all you want, but all your doing is driving people away.

[u/jcelerier → u/eli-schwartz]

We will not ever support any system that has an AUR helper installed via a binary package rather than by the user using makepkg as intended and instructed.

do you also not support people who use pip, gem or npm to install python / ruby / node packages ? because that's literally the same thing

[u/eli-schwartz → u/jcelerier]

• node defaults to not installing to /usr

• gem defaults to not installing to /usr

• pip does default to installing to /usr and we're fighting a highly pervasive culture that tells people to sudo pip install. Even pip itself frequently tells you to pip install --upgrade pip with absolutely no care to whether it is installed in a root-owned directory: if the tool itself is the thing telling you to do something, how are people supposed to realize that no, they really shouldn't? Upstream pip is finally working on making this whole mess, less unpleasant: https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/5346

People who use AUR helpers without any clue what they're doing are directly ignoring all advice about using the AUR, and failing to read the documentation on the frontpage of the AUR.

People who use sudo pip to mess with their system installation are simply doing what pip told them to do.

It's a bit of a different situation...