Not 100% sure what ‘stripping it down’ means. Is it supposed to mean we can remove the linux-firmware package after the update? Like
$ pacman -Rns linux-firmware
There is no such package anymore. It is now called linux-firmware-meta, and removing it with -Rns would remove all of the individual firmware packages — they are all dependencies of linux-firmware-meta — which is probably not what you want.
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I haven’t done the update yet so mine is currently listed as
$ pacman -Q linux-firmware
linux-firmware 20250508.788aadc8-2
The linux-firmware-meta package doesn’t exist pre-update. Are you saying then after the update it’s supposed to be
$ pacman -R linux-firmware-meta
If not, what are we supposed to remove to ‘strip it down’ ? 
The reason I’m asking for specifics is, I’m afraid I might brick my system when playing around with the firmware files and ‘willy-nilly’ removing some of them. I just want to be sure what I’m doing before firmware-surgery 
.
That package will now be replaced by linux-firmware-meta.
Yes, and then you can start removing the individual firmware packages that you don’t need — or at least, if you want that, because technically it might be a good idea to leave them installed, in case you want to swap out your motherboard or move your drive to a different machine.
Yes, there are some that depend on others, so you have to be careful with that.
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Continuing the discussion from [Stable Update] 2025-07-12 - Kernels, Systemd, GNOME, NVIDIA, Plasma, Firefox, VLC splits:
As I’ve asked and discussed in the topic, we’re recommended to remove the ‘meta’ package after the update. Therefore I’ve tried to sudo pacman -R linux-firmware-meta only to get a warning about optional dependencies for the linux kernel meta packages:
sudo pacman -R linux-firmware-meta ✔
checking dependencies...
:: linux61 optionally requires linux-firmware: firmware images needed for some devices
:: linux612 optionally requires linux-firmware: firmware images needed for some devices
:: linux66 optionally requires linux-firmware: firmware images needed for some devices
Packages (1) linux-firmware-meta-20250708-1
:: Do you want to remove these packages? [Y/n]
I’m asking myself if I’d run into potential issues with initramfs generation during updates if I really remove the meta package or is it a different matter?
I’ve also noticed the warning about marking firmware packages as ‘explicitly installed’ after removing the meta-package:
Is it really a good idea to remove the ‘meta’ package after all? Would it complicate things in the future if I don’t remove it now? Is there a list of all the newly installed firmware files so that I don’t forget to mark any of them as explicitly installed? Is it as simple as checking pacman.log for files starting with linux-firmware-…?
$ pamac info linux-firmware-meta Name : linux-firmware-meta Version : 20250708-1 Description : Firmware files for Linux - Default set (Meta Package) URL : https://gitlab.com/kernel-firmware/linux-firmware Depends On : linux-firmware-amdgpu linux-firmware-atheros linux-firmware-broadcom linux-firmware-cirrus linux-firmware-intel linux-firmware-mediatek linux-firmware-nvidia linux-firmware-other linux-firmware-radeon linux-firmware-realtek Optional Dependencies : linux-firmware-liquidio: Firmware for Cavium LiquidIO server adapters [Installed] linux-firmware-marvell: Firmware for Marvell devices [Installed] linux-firmware-mellanox: Firmware for Mellanox Spectrum switches [Installed] linux-firmware-nfp: Firmware for Netronome Flow Processors linux-firmware-qcom: Firmware for Qualcomm SoCs linux-firmware-qlogic: Firmware for QLogic devices
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I don’t think it is actually being recommended - it is something you can do if you wish.
At least, when it says “For stripping it down you may remove it after you have done the upgrade.” I don’t see that as a recommendation, just something I may choose to do if I want to. If “stripping it down” is what I want or need.
Also, in that thread it is said
Yes, and then you can start removing the individual firmware packages that you don’t need — or at least, if you want that, because technically it might be a good idea to leave them installed, in case you want to swap out your motherboard or move your drive to a different machine.
Which again shows it is not being recommended, but is an option.
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This means:
If you know what you’re doing, you might be able to remove/delete some (only for your PC) unnecessary parts of the metapackage. However, problems may arise if you need them again later (e.g., after a hardware upgrade). The only thing you’ll save is a tiny bit of disk space.
But since you don’t know, the best thing for you and everyone else who has to ask first is:
Please leave it as it is.
Otherwise, you might be frustrated in two or three years with a PC that no longer works properly (after a hardware change).
In my opinion, the savings aren’t worth the risk. 
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@nikgnomic Thanks for the one-liner. 
Ok, I might have misinterpreted that. To me it sounded like a recommendation for a clean setup to avoid potential difficulties in the future.
Phew! I think this is what I’m gonna do. If ‘saved disk space’ is all that I get out of this, I’ll gladly leave linux-firmware-meta untouched and avoid/chicken out of any risk messing around with firmware files.
Thanks to all of you for the input and your encouragement to do nothing at all. 
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Perhaps my explanation is more helpful?
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Just to reiterate that mentioned in Known Issues and Solutions linux-firmware-meta replaces linux-firmware:
As also mentioned, if you remove firmware packages, mark those you wish to keep as explicitly installed:
sudo pacman -D --asexplicit <name-of-package(s)>
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It was I who wroted that. 
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I did quote them in my post yesterday but thanks for the one-liner. 
I’m pretty sure not everyone knows how to mark a package as ‘explicitly installed’. I for one didn’t know back in May of last year, so the code will come in handy for all folks coming across this discussion. 
The thing about removing ‘not needed’ firmware packages is, I don’t know off the top of my head if my mainboard comes with realtek or intel components. That’s why I hesitate to uninstall any firmware files even though I’m pretty sure I’m not running any nvidia devices/chipsets.
As @andreas85 hints at, there’s not really much harm in keeping these firmware files and I don’t feel I’m wasting a lot of space on my 1TB NVME SSD to feel the need to remove some firmware files to save a couple of megabytes.
EDIT
@soundofthunder Are you sure about the --as-explicity
--asexplicit
Install packages explicitly; in other words, fake their install
reason to be explicitly installed. This is useful if you want to
mark a dependency as explicitly installed so it will not be removed
by the --recursive remove operation.
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It’s --asexplicit.
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It was copied verbatim from Known issues and solutions, which has now been corrected. Thanks for catching it.
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There is always that catch-all phrase: “When in doubt, don’t.”
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Haha 
, no idea where the additional ‘y’ came from. Instead of getting rid of the excess ‘dash’ I chose to add another character and increase the entropy.
I had no idea and didn’t even notice it in there. You’re off the hook then (unless you’re the original author of the section over there). Just kidding, I’m glad I could help fix it.
I think I need that as a ‘motivational poster’ on the wall beside my desk. 
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No, that was me, and it was a typo, which had spilled over in the copy/paste from the previous Stable Updates thread.
I corrected it in both as soon as I became aware, thanks to your post.
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Wondering what the future might be with this change. Might it not be that when creating an ISO we could choose our hardware modules and install just those you need? Or is it just to make it easier for maintainers.
Most likely this, yes.