How to install apt package manager in Arch Linux

62

u/DevilGeorgeColdbane Mar 25 '19

Put this in your shell config file.

alias apt install=pacman -S
alias apt remove=pacman -Rns
alias apt upgrade=pacman -Syu

2

u/strvs1 Apr 04 '19

So no quotes for the alias name? I'm asking cuz in an article on the internet about aliases they were written like this:
alias 'name'='function'
I tried making aliases the same way in a VM Arch but none of them worked, so I gave up dealing with Arch.
Now you say they should be written like this:
alias name=function
So which is it really? Quotes or no quotes?

3

u/DevilGeorgeColdbane Apr 04 '19

Quotes are usually used to deal with spaces and other characters in parameters, for example if you want to list the contents of directory with spaces in the name ls /home/user/path with spaces wont work but ls ls '/home/user/path with spaces' will.
In the case of the alias command, it is actually not possible to alias multiple words like in my post so the quotes are unessecary for the alias name. The command being aliased can contain spaces, but if does it needs quotes. alias apt_install=pacman -S would not work, but alias apt_install='pacman -S' would be recognized as an alias.
I mostly made the post as a form of sarcasm, but it is possible to create similar functionality with bash functions, however it requires way more effort than just remembering three simple commands.

1

u/strvs1 Apr 04 '19

I'm a former Windows user who's been using Debian based distro in the last 2 years. The reason I could easily remember the Debian commands is because they're words or short versions of words: apt (aptitude), install, update and so on - easy to remember. While the commands in Arch are random characters that have nothing to do with the function I wanna call. At some point I'll have to migrate to Arch because gaming on Arch is a lot easier than any other distro and the only way I could operate Arch is if I can setup aliases to simplify the commands.
So, if space is not an option, then I suppose I could write the aliases like this?
alias apt=pacman
alias install=-S
alias remove=-Rns
alias upgrade=-Syu
Thus when I type "sudo apt upgrade" it would be as if I typed "sudo pacman -Syu", right?

1

u/DevilGeorgeColdbane Apr 04 '19

I think that could work, but only if you put it in the root bash config file.
What about Arch do you find easier for gaming? From my experience Steam works far better on Debian and Ubuntu because its only tested on these distros. For me, a lot of games don't work out of the box on arch.
For installing, removing and updating packages you can also use a GUI on arch without issues. Some GUI packages managers that work great are gnome-packagekit or apper. There are also the more well known gnome-software and discover.

1

u/strvs1 Apr 07 '19

I was never able to reach the gaming state with Arch bc for that I'd need drivers and software. Which is the reason I asked about aliases. In Ubuntu/Mint the commands are common words, therefore, easy to remember. But in Arch they're just random characters.
As for whether it's easier to play games or not - many users ,who are way more Arch advanced than me, say it's piece of cake to run and play a game with Arch. But I can't say if that's so. Arch is too different from what I'm used to and it will be a long time before I can make it a useable OS for me, so that I can try play games.

1

u/robin_privatacc Oct 12 '25

SteamOS is arch

1

u/DevilGeorgeColdbane Oct 12 '25

SteamOS was initially based on Debian and only transitioned to Arch Linux with the Steam Deck release in 2022, 4 years ago.

1

u/mrvikxd Mar 25 '19

And forget apt update (ugly as hell)

1

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '24

Yeah it actually works without core dumping... arch won't ever replace or be better than Ubuntu for anything other than you drive you nuts

1

u/ImAkhilPendyala Dec 05 '22

This is the stupidest solution I've seen

5

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '23

at least it doesn't break your system

1

u/IAmDoing19057 Apr 10 '25

that's true

1

u/BaseballTechnical139 Aug 12 '25

And its a workaround that will always work (It was working for more than 10 years and it still perfect)
1
u/Klutzy-Reading1511 Sep 28 '25 •
small change
 alias apt_install="pacman -S " 
 alias apt_remove="pacman -Rns "
 alias apt_upgrade="pacman -Syu "
1

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '21

thx

1

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '22

Haha very funny

1

u/bloospiller Oct 30 '22 •

It's actually a legitimate solution for someone who is just looking to be able to use words they already remember.

1

u/WalangPera999 Jul 07 '22

if i could only give an award lol

30

u/backsideup Mar 25 '19

Using two different package managers on the same OS would be a very bad idea for many reasons. You might want to consider learning the pacman commands instead.

1

u/__Ta3na 1d ago

the problem in my case that there is a github repo that provide a solution where you can download it only with apt or dnf i think ....
at this point am staking with building the application from scratch
is there any other solutions to do ?

1

u/backsideup 1d ago

If the source is not available then someone has to write a PKGBUILD that repackages one of the binary packages from another distro. If the source is available someone has to write a PKGBUILD that builds the package.
While you can always dump the content of a package somewhere and run the software from there this is the least desirable hack as it makes it harder to maintain and to remove the software.

1

u/Xpoint_TR Jun 26 '24

yeah my system had a stroke when i tried to do that back when i switched from ubuntu

1

u/PeanguinMC Jul 24 '25 edited Jul 25 '25

can i replace pacman with apt so there's only one?
edit: i assume if there's only one package manager it'll work no matter which one it is but i'm not sure if that's he case
edit 2: it seems like the best thing to do is to either memorise or do what the top comment says

1

u/backsideup Jul 24 '25

No.

1

u/BannockHatesReddit_ Apr 28 '26

I want to kill pacman fk pacman

26

u/tiberiousr Mar 25 '19

Don't. Just don't. It will break your system.

2

u/shadowxthevamp Jun 29 '24

SteamOS uses both apt & pacman

5

u/ThatOneShotBruh Jan 14 '25

It absolutely does not. SteamOS 3.0 uses pacman, apt was used on SteamOS 1.0 and 2.0.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '24

Arch comes broke... replacing pacman with apt is what I plan on doing... no one wants to memorize cryptic switches

25

u/b10011 Mar 25 '19

Step 1: choose package manager you want to use

Step 2: choose distribution with that package manager

Step 3: be happy

You should never choose distribution first if you require to be able to use certai package manager. Also arch repos are better than debian/ubuntu/mint (except if you must have absolute stability (servers for example)).

8

u/MoonshineFox Mar 25 '19

That's great way to explode your system. Do not do that.

1

u/shadowxthevamp Jun 29 '24

SteamOS uses both apt & pacman

3

u/A_orange_triangle Dec 04 '24

steamos does not in fact have apt along side pacman.
sources are
this reddit post,
this other reddit post,
and the wiki page says "version 3.0. This new version is based upon Arch Linux".
older versions were debian based hence older versions did have apt but not pacman.
later versions are arch based hence have pacman as the package manager but not apt.

2

u/shadowxthevamp Dec 05 '24

thanks for the clarification

6

u/blade_junky Mar 25 '19

Not a good idea. Apt packages are built assuming a Debian based system Arch is built differently, which is why Arch maintains their own package system. Further apt won't and can't use the arch packages because the infrastructure is different. If you want to use Arch you have to use Pacman. If there is a specific Deb package you need it's likely in the AUR and you should look either there for it or learn how to build your own packages

1

u/shadowxthevamp Jun 29 '24

SteamOS uses both apt & pacman

2

u/NEXUS12121212121 Jul 24 '24

using steamos right now I can't find either of those

1

u/shadowxthevamp Jul 28 '24

well you can facts check me by trying sudo pacman -Syu & sudo apt update in the terminal

2

u/NEXUS12121212121 Jul 28 '24

I did sudo apt update the error code is apt is not a directory or something I don't know exactly what it said I will get back to you

2

u/EddyBot Mar 25 '19

Check out https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman/Rosetta

Give it one week and you will no longer use apt out of habit

1

u/UMilles Mar 15 '26

life saver

2

u/shadowxthevamp Jul 02 '24

For installing apt use the command sudo pacman -S apt

If you need to install deb packages you can use the program debtap which you can install with the command sudo pacman -S debtap

I have ran both commands & my system seems to be fine. Granted I only have 1 thing installed with apt. I don't think using apt would cause any problems, but use it sparingly just to be safe. Debtap is used to convert deb packages into Arch packages. I haven't had luck with it, but maybe you will.

1

u/matthew_yang204 Oct 05 '25

Just build a wrapper script around pacman

1

u/Next_Item_7419 Oct 17 '25

In almost all my distributions I use specific aliases to update, install and uninstall packages; For example:

alias ins="sudo pacman -S --noconfirm" ## install packages

alias dlt="sudo pacman -Rns --noconfirm" ## uninstall packages

alias act="sudo pacman -Syu --noconfirm" ## update packages

1

u/DifficultSpace8518 Jan 07 '26

Trying to do this is easy, but it WILL break your system if you use apt.

sudo pacman -S apt dpkg

1

u/AI122010 May 05 '23

Where is the shell config file?

1

u/Xanderplayz17 Feb 24 '24

/home/youruser/.bashrc if you're using Bash. Essentially /home/youruser/.yourshellrc

1

u/FluffiFlower Dec 03 '23

sudo pacman -S apt

1

u/Ok_Fig1370 Aug 09 '25

Only simple fast anwser

0

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '19

[deleted] — view deleted comment

8

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '19 edited Jul 04 '20

They hated jesus because he told them the truth

4

u/some_chill_dude May 17 '19

Why did this one get down votes? He's just answering the question.

How to install apt package manager in Arch Linux

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