Arch Linux

askreet

Member

Registered: 2010-01-16

Posts: 10

Package Cache - do I need it?

Been running an Arch system for a couple years now and a few times I've had to 'clean' the package cache with `pacman -Sc`.

I noticed it said it will keep just what I currently have installed, and that got me wondering, "Why?" -- what do I need the package files for my currently installed packages for?

Docs say that I can pass `-Scc` to nuke the whole thing -- any reason not to do that following every successful update?

Thanks in advance!

mpan

Member

Registered: 2012-08-01

Posts: 1,553

Website

Re: Package Cache - do I need it?

Files for the currently installed packages are becoming files for previously installed packages upon an update. If something goes wrong, you may use them to roll back the update. Without the cache you need a working internet connection to for that and, unless you wish to manually guess and reconstruct URLs, a working browser.

If building own packages, having the needed packages in cache avoids constant downloads for makedepends. With a fast connection this may not be troublesome to you, but it puts pointless load on volunteer-provided mirrors.

Package pacman-contrib has a tool called paccache. It gives more fine-grained control over package cache cleaning. You may take a look at it. May serve you better than raw -Sc/-Scc.

Last edited by mpan (Today 04:18:12)

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