How can I configure Pacman to warn user of an update for a certain package?

Question

I would like to be warned against an update to a particular package on arch linux using pacman.

I use some custom information in the header files for gcc-libs. But every time gcc-libs gets updated, these custom changes are reverted to factory default. These are not very difficult changes so I can repeat them every time they revert to factory defaults.

But I would like to have a warning every time that the package is going to be upgraded.

Eg, make an edit in /etc/pacman.conf. There is a field IgnorePkg and IgnoreGroup, but I don't want to ignore the update to the gcc-libs package. Any ways use of IgnorePkg and IgnoreGroup is discouraged.

I just want to be notified about an update to gcc-libs. I know before upgrading it asks your permission [Y/n], but is it possible to give a warning in yellow or something like that.

Answer 1

When you ignore a package you will get a warning that there is an upgrade available:

warning: ffmpeg: ignoring package upgrade (2:4.3.1-4 => 2:4.3.2-1)

But you can then still upgrade the package with pacman -S ffmpeg.

Instead of ignoring the package you could also write a custom hook that inserts the changes automatically (cf. man alpm-hooks).

Alternatively you could also write a wrapper bash script for pacman which first checks for updates and warns you if gcc-libs is in the list and then proceeds with the install.