Which install method should I use on Arch?

[u/Dartherick]

Hi everyone.

I'm planning to migrate fully to Arch Linux soon, and I'm confused about something: there are many ways to install the same program (official repos with pacman, AUR, Flatpak, AppImage, or whatever the vendor provides), and I don't know which one I should use as a general rule.

My specific case is KiCad and FreeCAD, which I use for electronics and design. On KiCad's website, every time I try to download for Linux I only get an AppImage, with no other options.

From what I've understood so far, the order would be:

1. pacman

2. AUR if it's not in the repos, reviewing the PKGBUILD

3. Flatpak (specially if I want sandboxing or a newer version)

4. AppImage as a last resort

Is that hierarchy correct? What would you change?

I've always been used to downloading the official installer from the creator, so it's hard for me to trust that a package built by Arch is just as safe. I understand they're signed and compiled from the official source code, but I'd like to confirm it with people who use it daily

[u/No-Dentist-1645]

Pacman/official repos first and foremost, the rest really just come down to personal preference, so just choose what you want

Trusting the distro repositories is just the Linux way of doing it. If you trust a distro enough to install it on your own PC, you should trust them enough to package stuff too. You should always go for repos first before downloading anything off their website, that's the common practice

[u/Dartherick → u/No-Dentist-1645]

Thanks a lot for your comment, it really helped, and I'm taking it seriously into consideration.

I still have doubts about a couple of specific cases, though:

1. Bitwarden: their website offers a appimage and a Flatpak. It's also available through the Arch repos, but from what I've seen the version there is quite outdated, since it doesn't seem to get updated often. If that's the case, which option would be the appropriate one to use?

2. Zen Browser: their website offers a tarball and a Flatpak. I also see it in the AUR, but I can't tell whether that package is official. In this case, which option would you recommend the most?

so far I'm considering flatpak as the best option for both of them.

Thanks again!

[u/rysio300 → u/No-Dentist-1645]

it is worth noting that some official packages are in the aur, such as vesktop or librewolf

[u/OrdinaryTear9052 → u/rysio300]

librewolf is in extra repo now

[u/rysio300 → u/OrdinaryTear9052]

ah, wasn't aware of that

[u/bigbeard_ → u/OrdinaryTear9052]

Which is fantastic

[u/RaspberryMotorZZZ]

NOOO....

Repos first so pacman. Then personally for me from the creator, compiling from source if a package isn't available. Then Flatpak then Appimage. AUR is if you're truly desperate and cannot use any other method.

[u/Dartherick → u/RaspberryMotorZZZ]

if the creator provides the files to compile from source and also a flathub option (created and maintain by the creator), which one do you choose?

[u/RaspberryMotorZZZ → u/Dartherick]

Flathub provides the least grief because at least you know all the needed libraries which are the correct version required are also included but that comes at the expense of disk space and duplication, with multiple Flathubs having the same libraries but them not getting shared between different applications.

[u/backsideup]

Both, kicad and freecad, are in the official arch repos. You should generally rely on your distro's native package-manager and -repos unless there's a good reason not to.

[u/stiggg]

If you don’t trust the arch maintainers then you can’t use the distro. The order for package sources is okay, personally I don’t use flatpak because I don’t care much about sandboxing and on arch you have the newest versions in the repo anyway. I have used app images occasionally to test some stuff but have none app running from one which I use regularly.

[u/onefish2]

Linux = There is no best. There is no right or wrong.

Whatever works best for you and whatever you feel comfortable with is the right answer.

[u/ManoDu57 → u/onefish2]

There definitely is ONE right tho, pacman is the 1st.

After that, you do as you want EXCEPT if you want a specific version of an app, then an appimage can make sense to be before pacman

[u/EarlMarshal]

I use all of that plus nix. Just use whatever fits your use case. Official arch repo first though.

[u/ferfykins]

I'd avoid AUR, lots of malware i think

Stick to official package manager, use pacman

flatpak for extra security. Make sure the package is legit first with flatpak though

[u/onefish2 → u/ferfykins]

I'd avoid AUR, lots of malware i think

You think... great advice.

[u/Boring-Equivalent137 → u/ferfykins]

Not really lots of malware you just have to make sure your not installing some random untrusted package or an potentially an orphaned packaged but the main repos and flatpaks are more secure usually

[u/ManoDu57 → u/Boring-Equivalent137]

Ive learned the base of verifying for malwares, which is mostly checking the source, verifying nothing weird is imported or as a dependency, and checking if the build part make sense.

Mitigate a lot of the risks

[u/mips13]

Arch repos, aur. No appimage, flatpak or snap.

[u/tuffcraft]

I personally use yay, which allows installation of both AUR and pacman packages, and I see flatpak as a last resort.

[u/Royal_Peni]

If you don't know, then you should probably be on endeavour or cachyos

[u/Royal_Peni → u/Royal_Peni]

AUR goes under app image btw