It’s a non issue but if you insist it started with this:
Well, the package descriptions says so:
~🐸 pacman -Qi yay
Name : yay
Version : 10.3.1-2
Description : Yet another yogurt. Pacman wrapper and AUR helper written in go.
Pamac is linked to libalpm, I don’t think yay
is.
Looking at my /var/log/pacman.log
, it’s full of entries like this:
[2021-08-27T21:49:33+0200] [PACMAN] Running 'pacman -S -y -u --config /etc/pacman.conf --'
I know haven’t run those manually, that’s yay
's doing.
These were not my words. I just didn’t quote the source properly. Sorry about that.
Last pacman libalmp update yay has its thing too…octopi uses a bit libalmp but uses full pacman

I don’t think
yay
is.
I just took a quick spin through the code. It is definitely making use of libalpm. Without a more in-depth reading of the code, I can’t say exactly what it is using it for. It is possible it using it for some functions and not others.
I abandoned pamac, too many broken incidents on EOS. Actually, I remember it breaking back in the day on Manjaro.
I have been using bauh for maybe over a year now, never an issue. I don’t usually use it for system updates, but it is a nice app manager to see all the app options, including flatpak and snap, and of course AUR.

I abandoned pacman
You mean pamac
It is almost as if the name “pamac” was intentionally confusing…

You mean pamac
Yes, you’re right, it’s using this: https://github.com/Jguer/go-alpm

What I don’t understand is: why you would want to use a graphical package manager on a terminal-centric distro?
Oh come on @Kresimir, you can make your system your own by installing whatever you want on it. Terminal centric when applied to a system that you can customize in very radical ways doesn’t actually mean anything other than after install, you don’t have a lot of GUIs installed and need to manually install them if you need them. If you can install it on Arch you can install it on EOS. And pamac is built for Arch not for Manjaro specifically.
I encourage the use of yay, btw. I came from pamac myself and started to use yay more and more until I stopped using pamac altogether. It was a slow and confortable transition for me. I took my time. I still have it installed and use it sometimes to search for packages by description or quickly check out dependencies and install files.
Just because you can install it, does not mean you should use it.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/AUR_helpers#Graphical
Warning: Usage of graphical AUR helpers may lead to a defective system, for example through unattended partial upgrades.
Of course, there is no pacman police to stop you from doing it. If you insist on pushing a square peg through a round hole, it’s your system, go right ahead.
I find partial upgrades useful sometimes. It helped me out in some scenarios when there were bugs upstream, or dependencies were broken or unsynced. If you know what you are doing, it can be a useful tool. I find that warning a bit silly to be honest. Since anyone can contribute to the wiki, I guess whoever added it is of the terminal-centric philosophy.

If you know what you are doing

pamac
Okay…
One can be "terminal centric" and yet use pamac ; )
PAMAC(8) PAMAC(8)
NAME
pamac - package manager utility
SYNOPSIS
pamac <operation> [options] [targets]
DESCRIPTION
pamac is a libalpm(3) front-end with AUR support.
OPERATIONS
pamac --version
Display current pamac version
pamac --help, -h [operation]
Display pamac help
pamac search [options] <package(s)>
Search for packages or files, multiple search terms can be specified
pamac list [options] <package(s)>
List packages, groups, repositories or files
pamac info [options] <package(s)>
Display package details, multiple packages can be specified
pamac install [options] <package(s)>
Install packages from repositories, path or url
pamac reinstall [options] <package(s)>
Reinstall packages
pamac remove [options] [package(s)]
Remove packages
pamac checkupdates [options]
Safely check for updates without modifiying the databases
pamac upgrade [options]
Upgrade your system
pamac update [options]
Upgrade your system
pamac clone [options] <package(s)>
Clone or sync packages build files from AUR
pamac build [options] [package(s)]
Build packages from AUR and install them with their dependencies
pamac clean [options]
Clean packages cache or build files
OPERATION OPTIONS
SEARCH
Search for packages or files, multiple search terms can be specified
pamac search [options] <package(s)/file(s)>)
--installed, -i
only search for installed packages
--repos, -r
only search for packages in repositories
--aur, -a
also search in AUR
--no-aur
do not search in AUR
--files, -f
search for packages which own the given filenames (filenames can be partial)
--quiet, -q
only print names
LIST
List packages, groups, repositories or files
pamac list [options]
--installed, -i
list installed packages
--explicitly-installed, -e
list explicitly installed packages
--orphans, -o
list packages that were installed as dependencies but are no longer required by any installed package
--foreign, -m
list packages that were not found in the repositories
--groups, -g [group(s)]
list all packages that are members of the given groups, if no group is given list all groups
--repos, -r [repo(s)]
list all packages available in the given repos, if no repo is given list all repos
--files, -f <package(s)>
list files owned by the given packages
--quiet, -q
only print names
INFO
Display package details, multiple packages can be specified
pamac info [options] <package(s)>
--aur, -a
also search in AUR
--no-aur
do not search in AUR
INSTALL
Install packages from repositories, path or url
pamac install [options] <package(s),group(s)>
--ignore <package(s)>
ignore a package upgrade, multiple packages can be specified by separating them with a comma
--overwrite <glob>
overwrite conflicting files, multiple patterns can be specified by separating them with comma
--download-only, -w
download all packages but do not install/upgrade anything
--dry-run, -d
only print what would be done but do not run the transaction
--as-deps
mark all packages installed as a dependency
--as-explicit
mark all packages explicitly installed
--upgrade
check for updates
--no-upgrade
do not check for updates
--no-confirm
bypass any and all confirmation messages
REINSTALL
Reinstall packages
pamac reinstall <package(s),group(s)>
--overwrite <glob>
overwrite conflicting files, multiple patterns can be specified by separating them with a comma
--download-only, -w
download all packages but do not install/upgrade anything
--as-deps
mark all packages installed as a dependency
--as-explicit
mark all packages explicitly installed
--no-confirm
bypass any and all confirmation messages
REMOVE
Remove packages
pamac remove [options] [package(s),group(s)]
--unneeded, -u
remove packages only if they are not required by any other packages
--orphans, -o
remove dependencies that are not required by other packages,qq if this option is used without package name remove all orphans
--no-orphans
do not remove dependencies that are not required by other packages
--no-save, -n
ignore files backup
--dry-run, -d
only print what would be done but do not run the transaction
--no-confirm
bypass any and all confirmation messages
CHECKUPDATES
Safely check for updates without modifiying the databases
pamac checkupdates [options]
--builddir <dir>
build directory (use with --devel), if no directory is given the one specified in pamac.conf is used
--aur, -a
also check updates in AUR
--no-aur
do not check updates in AUR
--quiet, -q
only print one line per update
--devel
also check development packages updates (use with --aur)
--no-devel
do not check development packages updates
Exit code is 100 if updates are available.
UPGRADE, UPDATE
Upgrade your system
pamac upgrade,update [options]
--force-refresh
force the refresh of the databases
--enable-downgrade
enable package downgrades
--disable-downgrade
disable package downgrades
--download-only, -w
download all packages but do not install/upgrade anything
--ignore <package(s)>
ignore a package upgrade, multiple packages can be specified by separating them with comma
--overwrite <glob>
overwrite conflicting files, multiple patterns can be specified by separating them with comma
--no-confirm
bypass any and all confirmation messages
--aur, -a
also upgrade packages installed from AUR
--no-aur
do not upgrade packages installed from AUR
--devel
also upgrade development packages (use with --aur)
--no-devel
do not upgrade development packages
--builddir <dir>
build directory (use with --aur), if no directory is given the one specified in pamac.conf file is used
CLONE
Clone or sync packages build files from AUR
pamac clone [options] <package(s)>
--builddir <dir>
build directory, if no directory is given the one specified in pamac.conf file is used
--recurse, -r
also clone needed dependencies
--quiet, -q
do not print any output
--overwrite
overwrite existing files
BUILD
Build packages from AUR and install them with their dependencies
pamac build [options] [package(s)]
--builddir <dir>
build directory, if no directory is given the one specified in pamac.conf file is used
--keep, -k
keep built packages in cache after installation
--no-keep
do not keep built packages in cache after installation
--dry-run, -d
only print what would be done but do not run the transaction
--no-clone
do not clone build files from AUR, only use local files
--no-confirm
bypass any and all confirmation messages
If no package name is given, use the PKGBUILD file in the current directory. The build directory will be the parent directory, --builddir option will be ignored and --no-clone option will be enforced.
CLEAN
Clean packages cache or build files
pamac clean [options]
--keep, -k <number>
specify how many versions of each package are kept in the cache directory
--uninstalled, -u
only target uninstalled packages
--build-files, -b
remove all build files, the build directory is the one specified in pamac.conf
--dry-run, -d
do not remove files, only find candidate packages
--verbose, -v
also display all files names
--no-confirm
bypass any and all confirmation messages
EXAMPLES
pamac search smplayer
Search for packages in repos containing the word smplayer
pamac search -a smplayer
Search for packages in repos and AUR containing the word smplayer
pamac install smplayer smplayer-themes
Install smplayer and themes from the repos
pamac reinstall smplayer
Force a package to be installed even if it is already installed
pamac build umplayer
Compile and install umplayer from AUR
pamac clone umplayer ~/Download
Clone umplayer from AUR in Download folder
pamac remove smplayer smplayer-themes umplayer
Uninstall smplayer, smplayer-themes and umplayer
pamac list -i
Display a list of all installed packages
pamac info -a smplayer
Display information about a package in repos, AUR or installed
pamac checkupdates -a
Check if updates are available in repos and AUR
pamac upgrade -a or pamac update -a
Upgrade all packages installed from the repos or AUR
pamac list -o
Check if there are any orphaned packages installed
pamac remove -o
Remove all orphans
pamac clean --keep 3
Clear the cache except for the latest three package versions
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
AURDEST
Can be set to configure the build directory. Overridden by --builddir.
EDITOR
When editor is not configured, use these variables to pick what editor to use when editing PKGBUILDS.
CONFIGURATION
See pamac.conf(5) for more details on configuring pamac using the /etc/pamac.conf file.
SEE ALSO
pamac.conf(5)
BUGS
Please report bugs to our Gitlab page https://gitlab.manjaro.org/applications/pamac/-/issues.
AUTHORS
Guillaume Benoit
08/21/2021 PAMAC(8)
While that is technically true I am not sure installing a daemon solely to enable the use of a small cli utility seems like overkill.
It certainly is!

It is almost as if the name “pamac” was intentionally confusing
I remember being new to Manjaro and was obscenely confused for a few weeks trying to figure out why so many typos were acceptable. Especially since it wasn’t called pamac in the application menu. It said add/remove software.
Yeah, I too was wondering: “why are all these people unable to spell ‘pacman’ correctly, it’s not such a difficult word”
Does this leave octopi the secret agent of GUI updating?
It uses libalpm for reading the alpm databases, searching for packages and seeing what’s available in the repos, what’s actually installed etc.
Now when it comes to installing/upgrading/removing packages, it utilizes pacman
itself by just running the binary with the appropriate parameters/flags…