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Whilst installing from Arch User Repository (AUR) we have several choices (git / bin / stable). However it's not clear which one should one choose and where should one save it.

I have read the manual on AUR install and I understand that bin files will be saved in the /usr/bin folder. Likewise I presume the git file should be saved in a separate folder in /usr/packages from where your run the Makepkg

Now when I use yay to install a package I get several options. Typically I choose the "stable" option, but I am not sure if one has an advantage over the other. "git" is a latest, "bin" is the binary and "stable" is going to build the package from scratch, but it that all?

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Those options have little to do with where you could/should/do save the packages, where you should run makepkg, or their content after they're compiled.

Most AUR PKGBUILDs will download the source code, compile that source code, and then install the binaries in the appropriate places.

The ones ending in -bin instead download already compiled binaries and put them in place. This is either because it's proprietary and the source isn't available, or compiling the source takes a long time and/or uses a lot of dependencies, and so people prefer instead to skip that step and download the already-compiled program.

The ones ending in -git will typically download the source code in the current main branch of the git repository for the project. Usually this means you'll get the latest version of the source code, but it may not be as stable or bug free since it hasn't been as thoroughly tested.

The ones ending in -stable will download a version of the code that's considered stable by the devs and compile that.

Usually all three will end up putting binaries in /usr/bin.

Which ones it makes sense to download depends a lot on your use case.

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  • Many thanks. This was exactly what I needed to know. I was worried that I might end up installing apps and their dependencies all over the place. I do presume that while delete an app using yay <app name> or sudo pacman -R <appname> these methods would automatically remove all dependencies from everywhere ?
    – Sandeep Krishnan
    Mar 15, 2022 at 11:18
  • sudo pacman -R <appname> will just remove the files for that package. If you want to remove the dependencies that aren't needed for anything else, use pacman -Rs <appname>
    – frabjous
    Mar 15, 2022 at 14:17
  • Also, if this answers your question, would you mind accepting it as the correct answer, or at least upvoting it?
    – frabjous
    Mar 15, 2022 at 14:19
  • Yes indeed. I am trying to upvote and like but I don't seem to have enough reputation. I will do it as soon as I get there. Thanks mate
    – Sandeep Krishnan
    Mar 16, 2022 at 8:01

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