Why does installing packages with yay result in a partial upgrade notification?

[nilanjanmitra]

I don't really have a problem, but was just wondering why installing something with yay triggers the partial update notification. This recently happened when I was installing teams-insiders from the AUR. But, I remember it happening with another package earlier. Hasn't really caused any issues for me, just wondering how Garuda detects "partial updates".

[filo]

In my opinion, it is not a matter of the tool used.
Before installing a new package, or together with the installation, you should always fully update your system, otherwise you have a partial upgrade, since the new package is new, but not the rest of your system.

[mandog]

@nilanjanmitra instead of jumping to conclusions go to the Arch wiki and read about partial upgrades that way you gain knowledge

[jonathon]

@filo

Before installing a new package, or together with the installation, you should always fully update your system, otherwise you have a partial upgrade, since the new package is new, but not the rest of your system.

This is true if you update the database but don’t update.

For example, running:

sudo pacman -Sy
sudo pacman -S random-application

or equivalently

sudo pacman -Sy random-application

is very definitely a partial upgrade as the database now contains newer applications than those on your system, and random-application could well be built against newer libraries.

On the other hand, running

sudo pacman -Syu
# and actually completing the update!
# then some time later
sudo pacman -S random-application

is absolutely fine - the application being installed is the same “age” as the version in the package database that matches the rest of the system. The only time this won’t work is when the database is so old the packages no longer exist on the mirror, and then you’ll see a 404 error when pacman tries to download the missing file.