Can I stay on stable branch but get updates from testing?

[Bill_Hirm]

I did talk about Manjaro Extra.

Release FreeCAD 1.0.2 · FreeCAD/FreeCAD

1.0.2 was released in August 2025. And it’s still “latest” on extra. So it’s outdated for ~8 months.

@linux-aarhus

If you want a quick view of a give package’s state in Manjaro repo, sync the package manjaro-check-repos. This gives you the mbn utility - which you can use as GUI or from CLI as you prefer.

Thanks, that is exactly what I was looking for.

Is it possible to only get a specific package from other branches?

In my case, I’d like to stay on “Stable” but I want to get updates for FreeCAD from “Testing”.

Sorry for steering this into a technical question now.

[Teo]

You actually mean Manjaro Stable, extra is just the repo where pretty much all the external software is (and there is extra repo in each branch).

You should not force install only 1 package from other branches. It will create problems with dependencies.

In case you only need newer freecad on stable, the right approach is to use a containerized format like flatpak or appimage, which is supposed to have all dependencies. In that case, the official freecad site offers appimage.

[linux-aarhus]

@Bill_Hirm

Sorry for steering this into a technical question now.

Now split of to a new topic…

@Bill_Hirm

In my case, I’d like to stay on “Stable” but I want to get updates for FreeCAD from “Testing”.

The short answer is no.

Since you have to ask I will advise against the experiment.

Such mix is completely unsupported - but it is your system - and you are free to experiment.

The longer answer is maybe, perhaps, it depends - taking your freecad example and lookup the dependencies

 $ pamac info freecad
Name                  : freecad
Version               : 1.1.1-2
Description           : Feature based parametric 3D CAD modeler
URL                   : https://www.freecad.org
Licenses              : LGPL-2.0-only
Repository            : extra
Installed Size        : 312,6 MB
Groups                : --
Depends On            : boost-libs coin fmt glew libspnav med opencascade openmpi
                        pugixml pyside6 pybind11 yaml-cpp python-defusedxml
                        python-matplotlib python-pip python-pivy python-ply
                        python-typing_extensions python-yaml qt6-svg qt6-tools
                        verdict vtk xerces-c
Optional Dependencies : graphviz: dependency graph support [Installed]
                        opencamlib: CAM workbench support
                        openscad: OpenSCAD support
                        python-ladybug-core: Solar/Wind diagram support
Provides              : --
Replaces              : --
Conflicts With        : --
Packager              : George Rawlinson <grawlinson@archlinux.org>
Build Date            : lør 18 apr 2026 06:24:30 CEST
Validated By          : MD5 Sum  SHA-256 Sum  Signature

Looking at qt6 dependencies creates some serious questions about general stability of your system - especially if your desktop is KDE Plasma.

It will create a big dependency problem where your system is mixed from different branches.

you have that urge to scratch....

It is your system - we shall not stand in your way - follow if you have that urge to scratch an itch

# package to fetch
INSTALL_PKG=freecad

# grab current branch
ORG_BRANCH=$(pacman-mirrors --get-branch)

# set temporary branch
sudo pacman-mirrors --api --set-branch unstable

# force pull the database
sudo pacman -Syy

# create working dir
sudo pacman -S $INSTALL_PKG 

# return to original branch
sudo pacman-mirrors --api --set-branch $ORG_BRANCH

# force pull the database
sudo pacman -Syy

Should you regret it - that is you get weird errors - you can revert by doing

sudo pacman -Syuu

[Teo]

https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/releases/download/1.1.1/FreeCAD_1.1.1-Linux-x86_64-py311.AppImage

Completely official. Check it first. This is the solution for bringing only 1 or 2 apps to version newer or older than those in your branch, if you do not want to change branch.

Or flatpak.

[jofi]

@Bill_Hirm

1.0.2 was released in August 2025. And it’s still “latest” on extra. So it’s outdated for ~8 months.

The new FreeCAD release is from end of March 2026. Only from this time on any distro has a chance to distribute the package. Once you understand the rolling of Manjaro stable you also understand that sometimes one may have to wait for a month. First the new release has to go to Arch stable. Then it depends on when the snapshot from Arch was taken. But in most cases when a snapshot is rolled out to Manjaro stable it is at least two weeks old compared to the current Arch stable (and in terms of Arch i reckon this is seen as half an eternity )