Yay - diffs to show?

[andrew_ysk]

what does "diffs to show ? means ? what should i type to download the app ?

 Diffs to show?
==> [N]one [A]ll [Ab]ort [I]nstalled [No]tInstalled or (1 2 3, 1-3, ^4)

[endea-andrew@endea-msi ~]$ yay -S brightness-controller-git
:: Checking for conflicts...
:: Checking for inner conflicts...
[Repo:10]  python-shiboken2-5.15.0-2  pyside2-5.15.0-2  python-cx_freeze-6.2-1  qt5-charts-5.15.0-1  qt5-xmlpatterns-5.15.0-1  qt5-remoteobjects-5.15.0-1  qt5-websockets-5.15.0-1  qt5-datavis3d-5.15.0-1  assimp-5.0.1-2  qt5-3d-5.15.0-1
[Aur:1]  brightness-controller-git-2.3.1-3

:: Downloaded PKGBUILD (1/1): brightness-controller-git
  1 brightness-controller-git        (Build Files Exist)
==> Diffs to show?
==> [N]one [A]ll [Ab]ort [I]nstalled [No]tInstalled or (1 2 3, 1-3, ^4)
==>

[Kresimir]

These are posts worth reading about it:

[FAQ] What is the AUR?

The Arch User Repository (AUR) is a collection of user-submitted package description files ( PKGBUILD files). These description files can be used to create package archive files ( .pkg.tar.zst files). These PKGBUILD files can be used by an AUR helper (e.g. yay , aurman , Pamac) or manually built using makepkg. The resulting package archive file can then be installed in the normal way. All content on the AUR is uploaded by ordinary users and very little checking of their content is done - it is…

AUR PKGBUILDs

The AUR is one of the safest ways to install software, just because it is so transparent. But it does not tolerate just looking up the package in Pamac and clicking on the Build button, or doing yay package_name blindly. It requires that the user knows what’s going on. That’s why I recommend trying to build at least one package manually, to understand what’s going on, before using an AUR helper like pamac or yay. yay has a nice feature that allows you to inspect a PKGBUILD file before installin…

Security of AUR packages? A question, and a proposal if you will

In my opinion, this is the most important part so if you only check one thing, this is a good start. The next would be to make sure there are no invocations of su or sudo Another good thing to do is turn on the package diff menu in yay and have it show you the diffs when AUR packages are updated. This will show you what changed between one version and the next so instead of having to review the whole thing each time you can see just the changed lines which will usually only be the ve…

TL;DR: When installing software from the AUR, you should get in a habit of inspecting PKGBUILD files, and yay has this nice utility where, upon updates, it only shows you the differences in the PKGBUILD, so you can quickly see what changed.

[andrew_ysk]

how to do that ? let yay update of package diff when update.

thx

@Security of AUR packages? A question

turn on the package diff menu in yay and have it show you the diffs when AUR packages are updated.

[dalto]

@andrew_ysk

how to do that ?

yay --diffmenu --save

Although it appears to already be turned on from your output above.

[andrew_ysk]

@dalto
can you pls explain to me what option should i enter for the yay prompt below ?
i wanted to download brightness controller git…
hence i should enter “1” , right ?
how about diffs to show ? what should i do about it ? it is the option that show me the different in package right ? should should i enter with regarding to that ?

@andrew_ysk

:: Downloaded PKGBUILD (1/1): brightness-controller-git
  1 brightness-controller-git        (Build Files Exist)
==> Diffs to show?
==> [N]one [A]ll [Ab]ort [I]nstalled [No]tInstalled or (1 2 3, 1-3, ^4)

[andrew_ysk]

is there lesson or youtube that teaches how to “inspect pkgbuild” as in the post above ?

[Kresimir]

@andrew_ysk

:: Downloaded PKGBUILD (1/1): brightness-controller-git
  1 brightness-controller-git        (Build Files Exist)
==> Diffs to show?
==> [N]one [A]ll [Ab]ort [I]nstalled [No]tInstalled or (1 2 3, 1-3, ^4)

Type N to show nothing (only do this if you trust the package), A to show differences/PKGBUILD files for all packages you’re building, I to show them only for the packages that are already installed and No to show the differences for packages that are not yet installed. Or you can type the number of package for which you want to see the PKGBUILD file or differences…

This is just for your convenience so you can inspect the PKGBUILD files without having to visit aur.archlinux.org.

I recommend following the Arch wiki and building at least one package manually, by the book, before using an AUR helper like yay. Just so you understand what’s going on.

It’s a bit overwhelming to jump straight in and that’s why most users just ignore this and willy-nilly install stuff from the AUR. If you want to do this properly, you should try to understand the Arch package build process, and for that you need to read the wiki. If you have any specific questions, I and many others will be happy to answer.