I built GuiMan - GUI for Pacman and AUR

Junaid433 · October 6, 2025, 11:19pm

Hey!
I just finished building something I’ve been experimenting with and wanted to share it: GuiMan.
It’s a full GUI version of pacman and your favorite AUR helpers (yay/paru). Everything you do in the terminal: installing, updating, removing, searching—now has a visual, click-friendly interface.

Install:
yay -S guiman
paru -S guiman

Links
AUR: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/guiman
GitHub: https://github.com/Junaid433/GuiMan

I’m still learning GUI programming, so this is kind of my first big experiment
Would love feedback, suggestions, or bug reports!

Thanks

Pudge · October 6, 2025, 11:20pm

Welcome to the EndeavourOS forum. I hope you enjoy your time here.

Pudge

cscs · October 6, 2025, 11:25pm

Hello and welcome,

Just having viewed the github I might make a quick mention to include a screenshot or two. As this is a GUI application that might help prospective new users understand whats being offered.

drunkenvicar · October 7, 2025, 12:03am

$ yay -S guiman:: There are 2 providers available for cargo::: Repository extra
1) rust
2) rustup

Enter a number (default=1):==>

which does the creator recommend and why? thanks

ps–welcome

dirn · October 7, 2025, 12:15am

Welcome to the forum @Junaid433

linux4ever · October 7, 2025, 12:59am

Welcome to the forum! And as @cscs stated, please post up some screenshots.

UncleSpellbinder · October 7, 2025, 1:28am

Welcome!

And another vote for screenshots of GuiMan. Since it’s a GUI app, it would help to actually see what it looks like.

Noodly · October 7, 2025, 2:03pm

I gave it a whirl , very nice indeed.
Like the other folks said, definitely get some screenshots on the github page to show it off.

UncleSpellbinder · October 7, 2025, 2:10pm

Seems the OP is posting this on forums and then not responding. A thread was created on the Arch Forum, and he hasn’t responded there either. Some forum members appear to have issues with how GuiMan was built and/or how it performs the update procedure.

ArchieLinux · October 7, 2025, 2:14pm

I’ve refrained from installing until a deeper level of trust with a brand new forum member is established. Perhaps just a bit paranoid, but hey… Sorry @Junaid433 … But welcome to the forum!

Edit: besides, using a terminal with pacman and yay gives me immense joy.

UncleSpellbinder · October 7, 2025, 2:18pm

I think that’s the issue. He seems to just make the one post about his new app, then moves on. I don’t know if he is a “new forum member” or just using the forum to publicize his app.

As you said… Perhaps I’m just being a bit paranoid, but hey.

swh · October 7, 2025, 2:21pm

You are not, just better informed

UncleSpellbinder · October 7, 2025, 2:28pm

The biggest concern on the Arch Forum post seems to be regarding partial upgrades.

EDIT:

This in particular:

github.com/Junaid433/GuiMan

src-tauri/src/commands/repos.rs

master


      
                  })
                  .collect();
          
              Ok(packages)
          }
          
          /// Sync package databases
          #[tauri::command]
          pub async fn sync_databases() -> Result<String, String> {
              let output = Command::new("/usr/bin/pkexec")
                  .args(["pacman", "-Syu"])
                  .output()
                  .map_err(|e| format!("Failed to sync databases: {}", e))?;
          
              if output.status.success() {
                  Ok("Databases synced successfully".to_string())
              } else {
                  Err(String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr).to_string())
              }
          }

Which leads to this:

MyNameIsRichard · October 7, 2025, 2:31pm

Well, it’s open source so that increases the trust level a bit and given there is an aur build, the pkgbuild will show if it’s built from the published sources or not. Unfortunately for me, it’s rust so I can’t easily verify that it’s OK. Well only to a basic level, without learning a new language.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with rust though.

UncleSpellbinder · October 7, 2025, 2:57pm

@Noodly, until the partial upgrade issue is either explained or fixed, I don’t think I’m going to mess with it. BUT, since you’ve used it, could you post screenshots of your GuiMan install?