442
Each time the Arch update breaks, I'll eat a snack.
(programming.dev)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2026
442 points (90.6% liked)
Programmer Humor
31231 readers
2195 users here now
Welcome to Programmer Humor!
This is a place where you can post jokes, memes, humor, etc. related to programming!
For sharing awful code theres also Programming Horror.
Rules
- Keep content in english
- No advertisements
- Posts must be related to programming or programmer topics
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Arch has a news feed where it describes things that require manual intervention when upgrading: https://archlinux.org/ (You are informed at arch install that you have to read it before upgrading.)
What an awesome and amazing and definitely not annoying system. Automating that to show you only what you need based on the packages you have installed when you do the update would be so ridiculous. I’m glad it’s just a blog.
There are messages with generic recommendations and post upgrade/post install scripts. They are rarely used because it goes against arch's principles to run some (maybe fragile) script on your system. Reading news once a week/month before upgrade isn't that inconvenient.
It's actually helpful that it's not filtered, because otherwise, I would only see a new post maybe once every 2 years, and would therefore not know if it still works, and feel lonely.
Arch isn't for normal people.
we dont talk about normies here
You're not the first to be annoyed by that: https://github.com/bradford-smith94/informant
Welcome to Gentoo.
Notes with recommended user actions are provided per package after every update. Mostly to let you know about optional packages and tell you how to enable optional auto start for some things.
For things that need even more attention, there is a system that tracks read/unread news that also only show up when your system needs it.
I get the building the system from scratch is good for learning the system and I've done it myself but this just feels like bad development, why not make it a simple script that you can choose to run or you know just make it part of the update itself like literally everyone else in the world.
99% of the time it is just automatic and part of the update. Usually it's only an issue if you are updating from a specific older version of something or have made a particular customization that breaks with the update.
Like others, I've got at least one system running Arch for 10+ years and I've only had to manually do something a handful of times. Usually it's just that I have to update the keyring first before the rest of the update.