We recently performed a long planned change to our repository structure - the separation of our Garuda exclusive packages from Chaotic-AUR and the addition of a garuda repo in front of Arch ones. The reasoning behind this is simple:
it allows overlaying packages like latte-dock, which means that we are able to eventually fix packages that aren't under our direct control (managed by Arch)
Chaotic-AUR becomes less focused on Garuda (which it was before as our packages were contained here) and hopefully becomes more attractive for other Arch based distributions
What does it mean for our fellow users? Apart from having 2 repos available after running garuda-update (yes, you should run this as it adds the repo!), no further changes will be noticable as the existing infrastructure (including mirrors) will be reused. Although, latte-dock will be fixed for KDE users as we provide a version fixed to a specific git commit that contains needed fixes for Plasma 5.25
This is a pretty big announcement and I'd like to know more about it, like which will be the main 'movers' in the garuda repo? And most of all what's the ultimate goal of this? Stability, improvements, cutting edge aesthetics and themes, new and unique features...? I'm fairly new around here so I don't really know what's driving people towards Garuda but imho stability is the most important thing.
The goals are pretty clearly stated in the bulleted list of the first post but I will state them a little bit differently in hope that it will be more clear.
First, pacman processes repos in the order they are listed in /etc/pacman.conf. Chaotic-AUR is a huge repo and most people wouldnât want it to override the packages which are coming from the official Arch repos so it is below the Arch repos on the list. However, on rare occasions, there is need to override a package coming from the Arch repos. Having a small repo which sits at the top of the list allows for this functionality.
In theory this should improve stability and reliability by giving the team an additional option to work around upstream issues.
The second reason is that Chaotic-AUR isnât a Garuda-only project. Removing the handful of truly Garuda-specific packages from it, potentially opens the doors for it to be used by more distributions.
All the packages with âgarudaâ in the package name.
Hmm. Could I know what the mirrorlist of the garuda repo should be named?
For some reason, after update (2 days ago and I updated again today after reading this announcement), the list of repos in my /etc/pacman.conf file looks like this (see below). As you can see, both the [garuda] and [chaotic-aur] repos point to /etc/pacman.d/chaotic-mirrorlist.
My /etc/pacman.conf.pacnew file is older (from 10 May 2022) and doesn't contain the garuda repo or chaotic-aur lines. There is no mirrorlist for garuda in /etc/pacman.d/
Looks like I have to edit the pacman.conf file manually. And where can I find a copy of the garuda mirrorlist?
# Repository entries are of the format:
# [repo-name]
# Server = ServerName
# Include = IncludePath
#
# The header [repo-name] is crucial - it must be present and
# uncommented to enable the repo.
#
# The testing repositories are disabled by default. To enable, uncomment the
# repo name header and Include lines. You can add preferred servers immediately
# after the header, and they will be used before the default mirrors.
#[testing]
#Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
[garuda]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/chaotic-mirrorlist
[core]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
[extra]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
#[community-testing]
#Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
[community]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
# If you want to run 32 bit applications on your x86_64 system,
# enable the multilib repositories as required here.
#[multilib-testing]
#Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
[multilib]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
# An example of a custom package repository. See the pacman manpage for
# tips on creating your own repositories.
#[custom]
#SigLevel = Optional TrustAll
#Server = file:///home/custompkgs
[chaotic-aur]
#SigLevel = Never
Include = /etc/pacman.d/chaotic-mirrorlist
PS. This is my old KDE-Lite test VM installed from a few years ago, to keep up with Garuda happenings. I don't do much with it, but want to keep it going.
You have to save this thread for posterity this is a big change that will then be remembered in your time route.
Ever since I saw the Garuda distribution, I was struck because it had its repository for specialized garuda programs, but you are right, the repository is so large that many distributions or users add it to their Arch-based Arch or Distribution.
Garuda is constantly changing and needed its own repository for its preconfigured packages to distribute it
I donât understand this part. How Garuda packages are supposed to affect other distros? If they want Chaotic AUR, they could do so without installing Garuda packages because they are already not needed for them.
Because not everyone is careful and people have installed garuda packages on other distros without understanding what they do. Some of those packages do fairly intrusive things(If used outside of Garuda) like making the system identify itself as Garuda.
Having those packages in the repo may be limiting other distros willingness to ship it by default.
In fact, we got Chaotic-AUR removed from Arch wiki's custom repository list for that reason. Some guy installed a Garuda package (clearly labeled as such by having the garuda- prefix), it pulled in garuda-hooks and changed his Arch installation to a Garuda one, which eventually led to the removal. Removing all of those packages to make sure something like this happens again (even though one could've assumed such an action by a clearly distribution-specific package) should help with the adoption.
