6 min read
The Beauty of pacman -Syu
I use arch btw and Arch is the best are obnoxious ways to tell somebody that you are using the Arch Linux distribution on your computer. Arch users also claim that their distro is superior to other distros. Sure, they’re just silly memes - but, they’re the reason I even looked into Arch in the first place.
It led me to install Arch on my Tuxedo InfinityBook (which btw is the best laptop I ever had). Formatting the disk and setting up a UEFI boot partition was the most intimidating part of the process. But there are many good guides that cover this in detail without going too much into details.
Once I was able to boot into Arch, setting up my work environment was fairly easy. I have my dotfiles project that does kind of everything. Installing new software, restoring data from backups, symlinking configuration files and setting up the window manager.
So how is Arch superior to other distributions? you may ask. To me, the answer is simple, it is sudo pacman -Syu. This command updates all packages installed with Arch, including the Linux kernel itself. In Arch everything is a package. As long as you install everything with pacman, you do not have to worry about missing updates for your system.
This is what the process looks like in action:
[~]$ sudo pacman -Syu
:: Synchronizing package databases...
core 126.9 KiB 599 KiB/s 00:00 [#####################################################################] 100%
extra 8.2 MiB 15.5 MiB/s 00:01 [#####################################################################] 100%
:: Starting full system upgrade...
:: Replace geocode-glib-2 with extra/geocode-glib? [Y/n] y
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...
:: geocode-glib-3.26.4-6 and geocode-glib-common-3.26.4-5 are in conflict. Remove geocode-glib-common? [y/N] y
Packages (449) accountsservice-26.13.3-1 acl-2.3.2-2 alsa-card-profiles-1:1.6.4-1 android-udev-20260423-1 apache-2.4.67-1 aquamarine-0.11.0-2 archlinux-keyring-20260420-1
at-spi2-core-2.60.3-1 atkmm-2.28.4-2 attr-2.5.2-2 babl-0.1.126-1 binutils-2.46+r70+g155188ea10a7-1 bluez-5.86-6 bluez-libs-5.86-6 bluez-obex-5.86-6 bluez-utils-5.86-6
boost-libs-1.91.0-1 botan-3.12.0-1 breeze-icons-6.26.0-1 brltty-6.9.1-1 btop-1.4.7-1 bubblewrap-0.11.2-1 ca-certificates-mozilla-3.123.1-1 calibre-8.7.0-11
cfitsio-1:4.6.4-1 chromium-148.0.7778.96-1 clang-22.1.5-1 compiler-rt-22.1.5-1 containerd-2.3.0-1 coreutils-9.11-1 cpio-2.15-3 cups-2:2.4.19-1 curl-8.20.0-6
debugedit-5.3-1 decibels-49.6.1-1 device-mapper-2.03.40-1 dkms-3.4.1-1 docker-1:29.4.3-1 docker-compose-5.1.3-1 editorconfig-core-c-0.12.11-1 efibootmgr-18-4
efivar-39-2 electron39-39.8.10-1 electron41-41.5.1-1 element-desktop-1.12.15-2 element-web-1.12.15-2 elfutils-0.195-1 epiphany-50.4-2 evolution-data-server-3.60.1-3
expat-2.8.1-1 faac-1.50-1 fastfetch-2.62.1-1 fd-10.4.2-2 ffmpeg-2:8.1.1-1 fftw-3.3.11-1 file-5.47-3 firefox-150.0.2-1 fish-4.7.1-1 flatpak-1:1.16.6-1 flex-2.6.4-6
fluidsynth-2.5.4-1 freerdp-2:3.26.0-1 freetds-1.5.17-1 gcc-16.1.1+r12+g301eb08fa2c5-1 gcc-libs-16.1.1+r12+g301eb08fa2c5-1 gdb-17.2-1 gdb-common-17.2-1 gdm-50.0-2
geoclue-2.8.1-1 geocode-glib-3.26.4-6 geocode-glib-2-3.26.4-5 [removal] geocode-glib-common-3.26.4-5 [removal] giflib-6.1.3-1 gimp-3.2.4-1 git-2.54.0-1
github-cli-2.92.0-1 glib2-2.88.1-1 glibc-2.43+r22+g8362e8ce10b2-2 gmic-3.7.5-1 gnome-bluetooth-3.0-47.2-1 gnome-calendar-50.0-2 gnome-control-center-50.1-1
gnome-keybindings-50.1-1 gnome-maps-50.1-1 gnome-online-accounts-3.58.1-1 gnome-remote-desktop-50.1-1 gnome-settings-daemon-50.1-1 gnome-shell-1:50.1-2
gnome-shell-extensions-50.1-1 gnome-software-50.1-1 gnome-text-editor-50.1-1 gnutls-3.8.13-2 gsettings-desktop-schemas-50.1-1 gsettings-system-schemas-50.1-1
gst-devtools-libs-1.28.3-1 gst-editing-services-1.28.3-1 gst-plugin-gtk-1.28.3-1 gst-plugin-gtk4-0.15.2-1 gst-plugin-pipewire-1:1.6.4-1 gst-plugins-bad-1.28.3-1
gst-plugins-bad-libs-1.28.3-1 gst-plugins-base-1.28.3-1 gst-plugins-base-libs-1.28.3-1 gst-plugins-good-1.28.3-1 gst-python-1.28.3-1 gstreamer-1.28.3-1
gtk-update-icon-cache-1:4.22.4-1 gtk4-1:4.22.4-1 harfbuzz-14.2.0-1 harfbuzz-icu-14.2.0-1 haskell-aeson-2.2.2.0-4 haskell-ansi-terminal-1.1-42
haskell-ansi-terminal-types-1.1-42 haskell-base-orphans-0.9.3-127 haskell-bifunctors-5.6.3-17 haskell-character-ps-0.1-1 haskell-colour-2.3.7-8 haskell-comonad-5.0.10-5
haskell-data-fix-0.3.4-184 haskell-diff-0.5-55 haskell-distributive-0.6.2.1-467 haskell-dlist-1.0-421 haskell-fgl-5.8.3.0-121 haskell-foldable1-classes-compat-0.1.3-4
haskell-generically-0.1.1-109 haskell-hashable-1.4.7.0-62 haskell-indexed-traversable-0.1.4-195 haskell-indexed-traversable-instances-0.1.2.1-8
haskell-integer-conversion-0.1.1-75 haskell-integer-logarithms-1.0.4-185 haskell-network-uri-2.6.4.2-155 haskell-onetuple-0.4.2.1-16
haskell-optparse-applicative-0.18.1.0-334 haskell-os-string-2.0.10-28 haskell-prettyprinter-1.7.1-402 haskell-prettyprinter-ansi-terminal-1.1.3-543
haskell-primitive-0.9.1.0-154 haskell-quickcheck-2.15.0.1-154 haskell-random-1.2.1.3-240 haskell-regex-tdfa-1.3.2.5-49 haskell-scientific-0.3.8.1-46
haskell-semialign-1.3.1.1-2 haskell-semigroupoids-6.0.2-23 haskell-splitmix-0.1.3-49 haskell-strict-0.5.1-77 haskell-tasty-1.5.2-144 haskell-text-iso8601-0.1.1.1-6
haskell-text-short-0.1.6.1-20 haskell-th-compat-0.1.7-18 haskell-these-1.2.1-287 haskell-time-compat-1.9.9-38 haskell-unordered-containers-0.2.20.1-69
haskell-uuid-types-1.0.6-297 haskell-vector-0.13.2.0-421 haskell-witherable-0.4.2-252 helm-4.1.4-1 highway-1.4.0-1 hugo-0.161.1-1 hunspell-1.7.3-1 hwdata-0.407-1
hyprcursor-0.1.13-6 hyprgraphics-0.5.1-2 hyprland-0.55.0-4 hyprland-guiutils-0.2.1-5 hyprland-qt-support-0.1.0-12 hyprlang-0.6.8-4 hyprpaper-0.8.4-1 hyprtoolkit-0.5.4-1
hyprutils-0.13.1-1 hyprwayland-scanner-0.4.6-1 hyprwire-0.3.1-2 iana-etc-20260425-1 ibus-1.5.34-1 ijs-0.35-7 imagemagick-7.1.2.22-1 imath-3.2.2-5 inetutils-2.8-1
iproute2-7.0.0-1 iptables-1:1.8.13-1 jbig2dec-0.20-2 jdk-openjdk-26.0.1.u8-1 jemalloc-1:5.3.1-2 jq-1.8.1-3 js140-140.10.2-1 jujutsu-0.41.0-1 jxrlib-1.3.2-1
karchive-6.26.0-1 kauth-6.26.0-1 kbookmarks-6.26.0-1 kcmutils-6.26.0-1 kcodecs-6.26.0-1 kcolorscheme-6.26.0-1 kcompletion-6.26.0-1 kconfig-6.26.0-1
kconfigwidgets-6.26.0-1 kcoreaddons-6.26.0-1 kcrash-6.26.0-1 kdbusaddons-6.26.0-1 kdsingleapplication-1.2.1-1 keepassxc-2.7.12-3 keyutils-1.6.3-4 kglobalaccel-6.26.0-1
kguiaddons-6.26.0-1 ki18n-6.26.0-1 kiconthemes-6.26.0-1 kio-6.26.0-1 kirigami-6.26.0-1 kitemviews-6.26.0-1 kjobwidgets-6.26.0-1 knotifications-6.26.0-1
kservice-6.26.0-1 kwallet-6.26.0-1 kwidgetsaddons-6.26.0-1 kwindowsystem-6.26.0-1 kxmlgui-6.26.0-1 lazygit-0.61.1-1 lcms2-2.19.1-1 ldb-2:4.24.1-1 leancrypto-1.7.2-1
libarchive-3.8.7-1 libasan-16.1.1+r12+g301eb08fa2c5-1 libass-0.17.4-2 libatomic-16.1.1+r12+g301eb08fa2c5-1 libblockdev-3.5.0-1 libblockdev-crypto-3.5.0-1
libblockdev-fs-3.5.0-1 libblockdev-loop-3.5.0-1 libblockdev-mdraid-3.5.0-1 libblockdev-nvme-3.5.0-1 libblockdev-part-3.5.0-1 libblockdev-smart-3.5.0-1
libblockdev-swap-3.5.0-1 libbpf-1.7.0-1 libcap-2.78-1 libcap-ng-0.9.3-1 libcbor-0.14.0-1 libcmis-0.6.2-9 libcue-2.3.0-2 libcups-2:2.4.19-1 libdrm-2.4.133-1
libedataserverui4-3.60.1-3 libelf-0.195-1 libexif-0.6.26-1 libexttextcat-3.4.7-2 libfdk-aac-2.0.3-2 libfido2-1.17.0-1 libgcc-16.1.1+r12+g301eb08fa2c5-1
libgcrypt-1.12.2-1 libgdm-50.0-2 libgfortran-16.1.1+r12+g301eb08fa2c5-1 libgit2-1:1.9.3-1 libgoa-3.58.1-1 libgomp-16.1.1+r12+g301eb08fa2c5-1 libgpg-error-1.61-1
libgsf-1.14.58-1 libibus-1.5.34-1 libical-4.0.0-2 libimagequant-4.4.1-2 libixion-0.20.0-7 liblsan-16.1.1+r12+g301eb08fa2c5-1 libmalcontent-0.14.0-4 libmd-1.2.0-1
libmpc-1.4.1-1 libmysofa-1.3.4-1 libnautilus-extension-50.1-1 libnetfilter_conntrack-1.1.1-1 libnghttp2-1.69.0-1 libngtcp2-1.22.1-1 libobjc-16.1.1+r12+g301eb08fa2c5-1
liborcus-0.21.0-6 libpgm-5.3.128-4 libphonenumber-1:9.0.30-1 libpipewire-1:1.6.4-1 libpng-1.6.58-1 libquadmath-16.1.1+r12+g301eb08fa2c5-1 libraqm-0.10.5-1
libreoffice-fresh-26.2.3-2 libshumate-1.6.1-1 libsodium-1.0.22-1 libstdc++-16.1.1+r12+g301eb08fa2c5-1 libsysprof-capture-50.0-2 libtool-2.6.0+r23+gb08cb0a0-1
libtsan-16.1.1+r12+g301eb08fa2c5-1 libubsan-16.1.1+r12+g301eb08fa2c5-1 libunibreak-7.0-1 libunrar-1:7.2.6-1 libverto-0.3.2-6 libwbclient-2:4.24.1-1 libwslay-1.1.1-7
libxaw-1.0.16-2 libxdmcp-1.1.5-2 libxml2-2.15.3-1 libxmlb-0.3.26-1 libxpm-3.5.19-1 linux-7.0.5.arch1-1 linux-firmware-20260410-1 linux-firmware-amdgpu-20260410-1
linux-firmware-atheros-20260410-1 linux-firmware-broadcom-20260410-1 linux-firmware-cirrus-20260410-1 linux-firmware-intel-20260410-1 linux-firmware-mediatek-20260410-1
linux-firmware-nvidia-20260410-1 linux-firmware-other-20260410-1 linux-firmware-radeon-20260410-1 linux-firmware-realtek-20260410-1 linux-firmware-whence-20260410-1
lld-22.1.5-3 llvm-22.1.5-1 llvm-libs-22.1.5-1 localsearch-3.11.1-1 make-4.4.1-3 malcontent-0.14.0-4 md4c-0.5.3-1 mdadm-4.6-2 mercurial-7.2.2-1 mesa-1:26.0.6-1
meson-1.11.1-1 mkinitcpio-41-3 mpg123-1.33.5-1 mutter-50.1-1 nautilus-50.1-1 nettle-4.0-1 nextcloud-client-2:33.0.4-1 node-gyp-12.3.0-1 nodejs-26.1.0-2 npm-11.14.1-1
nspr-4.39-1 nss-3.123.1-1 oath-toolkit-2.6.14-3 obsidian-1.12.7-2 onetbb-2023.0.0-1 openal-1.25.2-1 opencv-4.13.0-6 openexr-3.4.11-1 openjph-0.27.2-1 openmp-22.1.5-1
openssl-3.6.2-2 openxr-1.1.59.1-1 orca-50.1.2-1 pacman-7.1.0.r9.g54d9411-2 pangomm-2.46.4-2 parted-3.7-1 perl-5.42.2-1 pipewire-1:1.6.4-1 pipewire-audio-1:1.6.4-1
pipewire-pulse-1:1.6.4-1 pipewire-session-manager-1:1.6.4-1 plasma-thunderbolt-6.6.5-1 podofo-0.10.6-1 polkit-qt6-0.201.1-1 poppler-26.05.0-1 poppler-glib-26.05.0-1
psmisc-23.7-2 pulse-native-provider-1:1.6.4-1 python-3.14.4-1 python-apsw-3.53.1.0-1 python-brltty-6.9.1-1 python-certifi-2026.04.22-1 python-click-8.3.3-1
python-cryptography-48.0.0-1 python-filelock-3.29.0-1 python-gevent-26.4.0-1 python-gobject-3.56.3-1 python-greenlet-3.5.0-1 python-idna-3.14-1 python-lxml-6.1.0-1
python-mako-1.3.11-1 python-more-itertools-11.0.2-1 python-packaging-26.2-1 python-pip-26.1.1-1 python-pipx-1.12.0-1 python-platformdirs-4.9.6-1 python-psycopg2-2.9.12-1
python-pycryptodomex-3.23.0-3 python-pyopenssl-26.2.0-1 python-pypdf-6.11.0-1 python-regex-2026.5.9-1 python-requests-2.34.0-1 python-tests-3.14.4-1
python-urllib3-2.7.0-1 python-wheel-0.47.0-1 python-xxhash-3.7.0-1 python-zope-event-6.2-1 python-zope-interface-8.4-1 qca-qt6-2.3.10-6 qt6-base-6.11.0-4
qt6-declarative-6.11.0-4 qt6-webengine-6.11.0-6 qtkeychain-qt6-0.16.0-1 rasqal-1:0.9.33-8 redland-1:1.0.17-10 rpi-imager-2.0.8-1 rsync-3.4.2-1 rtmpdump-1:2.6-2
rust-1:1.95.0-1 sbcl-2.6.4-1 sdl2-compat-2.32.68-1 sdl3-3.4.8-1 sed-4.10-1 semver-7.8.0-1 shellcheck-0.11.0-104 signal-desktop-8.9.1-2 simdjson-1:4.6.4-1
slurp-1.5.0-2 smbclient-2:4.24.1-1 solid-6.26.0-1 source-highlight-3.1.9-18 sqlite-3.53.1-1 srt-1.5.5-1 sushi-50.0-1 svt-hevc-1.5.1-4 systemd-260.1-2
systemd-libs-260.1-2 systemd-sysvcompat-260.1-2 taglib-2.3-1 tesseract-data-afr-2:4.1.0-5 tesseract-data-osd-2:4.1.0-5 texinfo-7.3-1 thunar-4.20.8-3
thunderbird-150.0.1-2 tinysparql-3.11.1-1 tomlplusplus-3.4.0-2 totem-pl-parser-3.26.7-1 tzdata-2026b-1 vapoursynth-75-2 verdict-1.4.5-2 vim-9.2.0450-1
vim-runtime-9.2.0450-1 vulkan-mesa-implicit-layers-1:26.0.6-1 vulkan-radeon-1:26.0.6-1 wasi-libc-1:0+592+161b3195-1 wayland-1.25.0-1 webkit2gtk-4.1-2.52.3-1
webkitgtk-6.0-2.52.3-1 weston-15.0.1-1 wget-1.25.0-4 xdg-desktop-portal-1.20.4-1 xdg-user-dirs-0.20-1 xmlsec-1.3.11-1 xorg-fonts-encodings-1.1.0-2 xorg-server-21.1.22-2
xorg-server-common-21.1.22-2 xorg-server-xvfb-21.1.22-2 xorg-xwayland-24.1.11-2 yelp-49.1-1 zed-1.1.7-2 zip-3.0-13 zsh-5.9-6
Total Download Size: 2940.06 MiB
Total Installed Size: 9253.96 MiB
Net Upgrade Size: 279.40 MiB
:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] y
:: Retrieving packages...
jdk-openjdk-26.0.1.u8-1-x86_64 18.8 MiB 3.02 MiB/s 02:05 [##-------------------------------------------------------------------] 4%
libreoffice-fresh-26.2.3-2-x86_64 81.5 MiB 11.4 MiB/s 00:05 [#####################################--------------------------------] 55%
linux-7.0.5.arch1-1-x86_64 49.2 MiB 5.86 MiB/s 00:16 [######################-----------------------------------------------] 33%
linux-firmware-intel-20260410-1-any 44.7 MiB 11.3 MiB/s 00:07 [########################---------------------------------------------] 35%
chromium-148.0.7778.96-1-x86_64 48.1 MiB 6.34 MiB/s 00:12 [##########################-------------------------------------------] 38%
Total ( 0/447) 243.5 MiB 38.2 MiB/s 01:10 [#####----------------------------------------------------------------] 8%
The download and installation takes some time.
(441/447) upgrading wget [#####################################################################] 100%
(442/447) upgrading xorg-server [#####################################################################] 100%
(443/447) upgrading xorg-server-xvfb [#####################################################################] 100%
(444/447) upgrading yelp [#####################################################################] 100%
(445/447) upgrading zed [#####################################################################] 100%
(446/447) upgrading zip [#####################################################################] 100%
(447/447) upgrading zsh [#####################################################################] 100%
New optional dependencies for zsh
grml-zsh-config: grml's zsh setup
zsh-autosuggestions: Fish-like autosuggestions for zsh
zsh-completions: Additional completion definitions for Zsh
zsh-doc: Info, HTML and PDF format of the ZSH documentation
zsh-history-substring-search: ZSH port of Fish history search (up arrow)
zsh-lovers: A collection of tips, tricks and examples for the Z shell.
zsh-syntax-highlighting: Fish shell like syntax highlighting for Zsh
zshdb: A debugger for zsh scripts
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
( 1/28) Creating system user accounts...
( 2/28) Creating temporary files...
( 3/28) Updating journal message catalog...
( 4/28) Updating udev hardware database...
( 5/28) Applying kernel sysctl settings...
( 6/28) Reloading system manager configuration...
( 7/28) Reloading user manager configuration...
( 8/28) Updating the MIME type database...
( 9/28) Enqueuing marked services...
(10/28) Reloading device manager configuration...
(11/28) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
(12/28) Rebuilding certificate stores...
(13/28) Updating module dependencies...
(14/28) Install DKMS modules
==> ERROR: Missing 7.0.5-arch1-1 kernel headers for module tuxedo-drivers/4.15.4.
(15/28) Updating linux initcpios...
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux.preset: 'default'
==> Using default configuration file: '/etc/mkinitcpio.conf'
-> -k /boot/vmlinuz-linux -g /boot/initramfs-linux.img
==> Starting build: '7.0.5-arch1-1'
-> Running build hook: [base]
-> Running build hook: [systemd]
-> Running build hook: [autodetect]
-> Running build hook: [microcode]
-> Running build hook: [modconf]
-> Running build hook: [kms]
-> Running build hook: [keyboard]
-> Running build hook: [sd-vconsole]
-> Running build hook: [block]
-> Running build hook: [filesystems]
-> Running build hook: [fsck]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating zstd-compressed initcpio image: '/boot/initramfs-linux.img'
-> Early uncompressed CPIO image generation successful
==> Initcpio image generation successful
(16/28) Updating the appstream cache...
✔ Metadata cache was updated successfully.
(17/28) Restarting accounts-daemon...
(18/28) Reloading system bus configuration...
(19/28) Updating system dconf databases...
(20/28) Checking for old perl modules...
(21/28) Updating fontconfig cache...
(22/28) Registering Haskell modules...
(23/28) Compiling GSettings XML schema files...
(24/28) Probing GTK3 input method modules...
(25/28) Updating icon theme caches...
(26/28) Updating GTK4 module cache...
(27/28) Updating the info directory file...
(28/28) Updating the desktop file MIME type cache...
And done!
Category: system-toolingTags: 100daystooffload , arch , linux , pacman , distribution
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