[aur-general] Meta packages in AUR?
Hi, I've a few "meta" packages I maintain and install across all my systems, and I'm wondering if it's ok to upload these to the AUR or if they're not welcome. Keep in mind: I know these won't make it to the stable repos, and that's not the intention. An example of these "meta" packages is "meta-group-base-devel", which is an "empty" package that has all the packages in "base-devel" as dependencies. This helps me keep things like "pacman -Qen" short and readable, and also make sure that all my machines have base-devel entirely installed. Is it ok to upload/share these? The AUR guidelines don't explicitly forbid these [1], but I want to make sure there's not precedent or issues with these. Cheers, [1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_User_Repository#What_kind_of_packa... -- Hugo Osvaldo Barrera A: Because we read from top to bottom, left to right. Q: Why should I start my reply below the quoted text?
Am 04.09.2014 um 07:29 schrieb Hugo Osvaldo Barrera:
An example of these "meta" packages is "meta-group-base-devel", which is an "empty" package that has all the packages in "base-devel" as dependencies. This helps me keep things like "pacman -Qen" short and readable, and also make sure that all my machines have base-devel entirely installed. I think this is a special purpose package that likely nobody would use as the only real benefit is hiding the base-devel package group. If the other packages also have only special purpose, it may be better to keep them for yourself.
Most of the functionality of meta-packages can already be done with package groups, so it is not needed to create them at all: If you want to group AUR packages, talk to the Maintainers where sensible. For example for related packages of big projects (e.g. openstack, android dev packages, ...). Also for extensions/plugins/addon packages, where already a group exists in the repositories (e.g. I could add my py3status package to the i3-wm group). Locally it is possible to add groups to PKGBUILDs with tools like customizepkg.
Is it ok to upload/share these? The AUR guidelines don't explicitly forbid these [1], but I want to make sure there's not precedent or issues with these.
My opinion is: The reason to provide a package on the AUR is so that others can use them and benefit from it. If you think somebody benefits from your meta-packages, go ahead and upload them. best regards, carstene1ns
If you're serious about using a custom package across all your systems in a native way, one option is to add a new paragraph into /etc/pacman.conf: # 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 Of course, this would be a bit of work. However, you're clearly clever and determined enough to create custom 'meta' packages, so this might be an appropriate solution. — Jeremy "Ichimonji10" Audet
participants (3)
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carstene1ns
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Hugo Osvaldo Barrera
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Jeremy Audet