Comment by dandersch
6 hours ago
I think Arch has to rethink what the AUR really is for in the age of AI.
If users aren't supposed to trust anything from the AUR, then they will start to use LLMs to scan PKGBUILDs for them. But at that point, why not let the LLM loose directly on the upstream repo and build+install the package from source?
You really don't see the difference between a deterministic script installing a tarball pinned by its hash, and "sudo chatgpt install master branch of this repo"?
Yes, the second option gives me an easily inspectable list of results (as I can see all the tool calls the model made). The deterministic script is probably overly complex and hard to read, maybe supports ten billion platform combinations.
Most PKGBUILDS are stupidly simple, they're probably easier to read than a set of tool calls. See this for a randomly picked recently updated example:
https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/tree/PKGBUILD?h=batte...
(honestly I think the way that arch packages work is really nice compared to most other distros: you can almost copy and paste the README of a project into one and have a package)
Here's the most complicated one I found, building a browser:
https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/tree/PKGBUILD?h=flowf...
The main risk, if you're reading them, is typosquatting and hiding the malicious code in what the project downloads.
Arch is famously x64 only?
2 replies →
> The deterministic script is probably overly complex and hard to read, maybe supports ten billion platform combinations.
Uh sorry what? Can you point to a PKGBUILD that is indeed this complex?
The AUR is still a better option than using curl to freebase shell scripts straight from github, which is pretty much the go-to route for any LLM-generated guides.
See also, the -o- emoticon: https://youtu.be/M1si1y5lvkk&t=1902s
Or you could use Nix as a package manager on practically any distro or OS of your choice. Arch, Debian, Windows, macOS - it doesn't matter. Most users should never ever need to bother with AUR again with this approach.
https://repology.org/repositories/graphs
Nobody needs to rethink anything in "the age of AI". Stop trying to make everything about your favorite topic. If the tool can provide value then they'll use it, if not they won't.