Can pacman update just the pertinent packages?

[gregrwm]

When i launch manjaro-kde-21.1.6-minimal-211017-linux54.iso, run

pacman -Sy vim

and invoke vim i get

vim: /usr/lib/libtinfo.so.6: no version information available (required by vim).

No doubt because pacman didn’t update dependee packages.

pacman -Syu vim would update all packages and install vim, right? But what i want is what i would get with apt-get install vim, ie update just the dependee packages, or maybe it’s just the packages where a higher version is required by vim or it’s dependees. Can pacman do that?

[Lolix]

While partial updates are not supported you can use

sudo pacman -S vim

[realmain]

What you are asking for is a partial update, which can break your system due to dependency issues.

[cscs]

@gregrwm

Can pacman do that?

Yes but, if you have to ask about it and dont have a good reason, might as well treat it like it cannot.

System Maintenance

[gregrwm]

@Lolix

pacman -S vim

(in the live environment) i get:

warning: database file for 'core' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)
warning: database file for 'extra' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)
warning: database file for 'community' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)
warning: database file for 'multilib' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)
warning: database file for 'manjaro-sway' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)

@realmain

partial update, which can break your system due to dependency issues

apt-get sorts out partial updates. Tho i guess if the dependencies aren’t correct something might not work until the needed versions get installed. i confess i now find myself wondering if an apt-get variant exists that works in the manjaro repospace. Tho no doubt that’s playing with fire.

@cscs

https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/System_Maintenance#Avoiding_Partial_Updates

Good general advice, unless you have more specific requirements, eg pulling some packages from testing onto an otherwise stable system.

@cscs

Yes but

Well i have to ask. How?

[Nachlese]

@Lolix

pacman -S vim

and you get:

@gregrwm

warning: database file for 'core' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)

… and so on for the rest …

So: why not do that?
use:

pacman -Sy vim

You can’t break anything since you still are in the live environment.
Doing a full system update there just to get an editor is … not terribly useful.

[gregrwm]

@Nachlese

pacman -Sy vim

Doesn’t work.

vim: /usr/lib/libtinfo.so.6: no version information available (required by vim).

See the first post.

@Nachlese

Doing a full system update there just to get an editor

…defeats an important advantage of a live environment, to run a working packaged snapshot.

[xabbu]

This is why partial updates are unsupported. Update, even in a live system, everything or nothing.

[Nachlese]

@gregrwm

See the first post.

Sorry - missed that.

Personally, I’d make do with whatever editor is already there in the live environment and install what I prefer in the real system later …

[gregrwm]

@cscs

@gregrwm

Can pacman do that?

Yes but, if you have to ask about it and dont have a good reason, might as well treat it like it cannot.

i have to ask, and have a good reason. How?

[maycne.sonahoz]

@gregrwm

apt-get sorts out partial updates.

pacman does not.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/System_maintenance#Partial_upgrades_are_unsupported

---

@gregrwm

unless you have more specific requirements, eg pulling some packages from testing onto an otherwise stable system.

[HowTo] Update an application early to the latest version

Why isn’t all software always the very latest version? There are a couple of elements to this question. Software which has just been released by the upstream project needs time to be packaged and built, so there will always be some time before it becomes available in a packaged format. If a package has patches, then more time will be needed to check whether the patches are still needed and, if so, re-written to apply against the new version. Compiling software from its source code can take a…

[Nachlese]

After reading up on this
(actually just a simple google search for the given message,
using the very first result it gave back)
I found this:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/137773/what-does-the-no-version-information-available-error-from-linux-dynamic-linker

and I also usually install mc within any live environment when I need to do anything prior to installation or repair or what have you …
and have seen similar messages when starting it -

I actually booted up this exact iso -
to confirm that it is just a message - but not an error and nothing fatal.

And so it was.

However, the message I got was different, but still about ncurses (terminfo is part of it):
vim: /usr/lib/libncursesw.so.6: no version information available (required by vim)

vim works just fine - just that message is printed and visible in the terminal after having shut it down.

So, there is actually no problem at all - just this message
and the reason for it is probably accurately explained in the link above
but I did not proceed to check … since it (vim) does work.

[gregrwm]

@Nachlese

the message I got was different

yup. i copied in the wrong message, and the forum no longer lets me edit the post.

@Nachlese

vim works just fine

so it does. my .bashrc prepares my $VIMINIT, and upon seeing the message i presumed……Thanks!

i’m wanting on the one hand to mark your post as the solution, it gives me just what i need in this case, but i’d say the answer to my question as posed is, while we’re truly best advised in most circumstances to update all packages, there are valid times when you don’t want to do that, like when wanting to preserve the bulk of the iso live environment as packaged.

pacman -Sy vim

doesn’t sort out a partial upgrade like apt-get would, but, gets by without in this case at least.