Arch terminology

Related articles
Arch build system
Arch Linux
Arch Linux Archive
Arch User Repository
ArchWiki
Official repositories
Package
Package Maintainers
PKGBUILD
makepkg
mkinitcpio
namcap
pacman
This page is intended to be a page to demystify common terms used among the Arch Linux community.
ABS
ABS stands for
Arch build system
.
Arch Linux
Arch should be referred to as:
Arch Linux
,
Arch
(Linux implied),
archlinux
(UNIX name).
Archlinux, ArchLinux, archLinux, aRcHlInUx, etc. are all weird, and weirder mutations.
Officially, the "Arch" in "Arch Linux" is pronounced /ɑːrtʃ/ as in an "archer" (bowman) or "archnemesis", and not as in "ark" or "archangel".
Arch Linux Archive
The
Arch Linux Archive
(a.k.a. ALA), formerly known as Arch Linux Rollback Machine (a.k.a. ARM), stores official repositories snapshots, ISO images and bootstrap tarballs across time.
ArchWiki
ArchWiki
is a place to find documentation about Arch Linux. Anyone can contribute to the
wiki
.
AUR
The
Arch User Repository
(AUR) is a community-driven
repository
for Arch users. It contains package descriptions—
PKGBUILDs
—that allow you to build a
package
from source with
makepkg
and then install it via
pacman
. The AUR was created to organize and share new packages from the community and to help expedite popular packages' inclusion into the
extra
repository.
A good number of new packages that enter the official repositories start in the AUR. In the AUR, users are able to contribute their own package builds—
PKGBUILD
—and related files. The AUR community has the ability to vote for packages in the AUR. If a package becomes popular enough—provided it has a compatible license and good packaging technique—it may be entered into the
extra
repository (directly accessible by
pacman
or the
ABS
).
You can access the
A
rch Linux
U
ser Community
R
epository at
https://aur.archlinux.org
.
BBS
B
ulletin
b
oard
s
ystem, but in Arch's case, it is just the
support forum
.
core
The
core
repository
contains the bare
packages
needed for an
Arch Linux
system. core has everything needed to get a working
command-line system
.
Custom repository
Anyone can create a
custom local repository
and put it online for other users. To create a repository, you need a set of
packages
and a
pacman
-compatible database file for your packages. Host your files online and everyone will be able to use your repository by adding it as a regular repository.
Developer
Half-gods working to improve Arch for no financial gain.
Developers
are outranked only by our gods, Judd Vinet and Aaron Griffin, who in turn are outranked by tacos.
extra
Arch
core
package set is fairly streamlined, but we supplement this with a larger, more complete
extra
repository
. This repository is constantly growing with the help of
packages
submitted from our strong community.
This is where
GUI
tools—such as
desktop environments
and
window managers
—and common programs are found.
initramfs/initrd
See
Arch boot process#initramfs
.
KISS
KISS principle
(
K
eep
I
t
S
imple,
S
tupid)—
simplicity
is a main principle Arch Linux tries to achieve.
makepkg
makepkg
will build
packages
for you.
makepkg
will read the metadata required from a
PKGBUILD
file. All it needs is a build-capable Linux platform,
curl
, and some build scripts. The advantage to a script-based build is that you only really do the work once. Once you have the build script for a package, you just need to run
makepkg
and it will do the rest: download and validate source files, check dependencies, configure the build time settings, build the package, install the package into a temporary root, make customization, generate meta-info, and package the whole thing up for
pacman
to use.
namcap
namcap
is a
package
analysis utility that looks for problems with
Arch Linux
packages or their
PKGBUILD
files. It can apply rules to the file list, the files themselves, or individual
PKGBUILD
files.
Package
See
pacman#Installing packages
.
Note
Different GNU/Linux distributions use different packages and package managers, meaning that you cannot use pacman to install a Debian package on Arch.
Package maintainer
The role of a package maintainer is to update
packages
as new versions become available upstream, and to field support questions relating to bugs in said packages. The term applies to:
Arch staff
previously
called
Trusted Users
who maintain packages in the
extra
repository and oversee the
AUR
. They are appointed by a majority vote by the existing package maintainers and they follow the
AUR Package Maintainer guidelines
and
Package Maintainer Bylaws
.
Developers
who maintain packages in the
official repositories
(
core
in particular).
All users who maintain
PKGBUILD
files in the AUR.
The maintainer of a package is the person currently responsible for the package. Previous maintainers should be listed as contributors in the
PKGBUILD
along with others who have contributed to the package.
PKGBUILD
PKGBUILDs
are small
Bash
scripts that are used to build
Arch Linux
packages. See
Creating packages
for more detail.
Repository
A
repository
—informally referred as "repo"—has the pre-built
packages
of
PKGBUILDs
.
Official repositories
are split into different parts for easy maintenance.
Pacman
uses repositories to search for packages and install them.
A repository can be local (i.e. on your own computer) or remote (i.e. the packages are downloaded before they are installed).
See also
#Custom repository
.
RTFM
RTFM
(
R
ead
T
he
F
riendly
M
anual)—this simple message is replied to some newcomers who ask about the functionality of a program when it is clearly defined in a program's manual.
This acronym is an invitation to self-care, not an insult. It is often used when a user is seen as failing to make any attempt to find a solution to the problem themselves. If someone tells you this, they are not trying to offend you—they are just feeling frustrated with a perceived lack of effort.
The best thing to do if you are told to do this is to read the
manual page
.
Tip
To read the program manual page for a particular program named
program_name
, type this at the command line:
man
program_name
.
If you do not find the answer to your question in the program manual, there are more ways to find the answer. You can:
search the
ArchWiki
,
search the
BBS
,
search the
mailing lists
,
search the
web
.
Testing repositories
They are the repositories where major package updates are kept prior to release into the main repositories, so they can be bug tested and upgrade issues can be found. They are
disabled by default
but can be enabled in
/etc/pacman.conf
.
The Arch Way
The unofficial term traditionally used to refer to the main
Arch Linux principles
.
Trusted User
Trusted User (TU) is the old name for the
package maintainer
role.
User repository
The same as
Custom repository
.
Wiki
The same as
ArchWiki
.