YAY – Yet another Yogurt is an AUR helper written in Go language

I was using either Yaourt or Packer since long time to install AUR packages but I recently came to know that these AUR helpers are no more maintained as per Arch Wiki page update (Stalled).

However Yaourt and Packer is still working as a charm even now also but I would like to take this opportunity to find the best alternative for AUR helper.

After done a small explore I came to know about Yet another Yogurt (YAY), It’s a best and reliable AUR helper written in Go Language.

In this article, we will give you the detailed information about YAY and it’s usage. If you would like to learn about Pacman Package Manager, here you go.

What is Arch User Repository (AUR)?

The Arch User Repository (AUR) is a community-driven repository for Arch users.

It contains package descriptions (PKGBUILDs) that allow you to compile a package from source with makepkg and then install it via pacman.

The AUR was created to organize and share a new packages from the community which is not comes with distribution repository.

If the AUR package is becomes very famous & popular and it has a compatible license and good packaging technique then there will be chance to enter into the Arch Linux official repositories.

What is AUR helper?

AUR helper allow users to install AUR packages easily without compiling the packages from source. It automate certain usage of the Arch User Repository.Most AUR helpers can search for packages in the AUR and retrieve their PKGBUILDs – others additionally assist with the build and install process.

AUR helpers are not supported by Arch Linux. You should become familiar with the manual build process in order to be prepared to troubleshoot problems.

What is YAY?

YAY stand for Yet another Yogurt, is an AUR helper written in Go language. Yay is based on the design of yaourt, apacman and pacaur. It has designed and developed in such a way to provide an interface for pacman.

It uses very minimal dependencies and prompt minimal user input when performing package installation. It offers interactive search similar to Yaourt. Also, you can choose which application to install or update.

YAY Features

  • Perform advanced dependency solving
  • Download PKGBUILDs from ABS or AUR
  • Tab-complete the AUR
  • Query user up-front for all input (prior to starting builds)
  • Narrow search terms (yay linux header will first search linux and then narrow on header)
  • Find matching package providers during search and allow selection
  • Remove make dependencies at the end of the build process
  • Run without sourcing PKGBUILD

Prerequisites for YAY?

Make sure your system should have installed git and go language packages. Even if you doesn’t install then it will automatically install these prerequisites while perform YAY package installation.

$ sudo pacman -S git go

How to install YAY?

There is no hard steps for installing YAY package on Arch Linux. Simply run the following command to install it.

$ git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git
$ cd yay
$ makepkg -si

How to use YAY?

The usage is similar to other AUR helper and package managers. To install a package from YAY utility, run the following command.

$ yay -s arch-wiki-man

To search a package in AUR and official repository, run the following command.

$ yay -Ss arch-wiki-cli
aur/arch-wiki-cli 0.3-2 (+0 0.00%) 
    Search the arch wiki from the cli

To view the detailed information about a given package

$ yay -Si arch-wiki-cli
:: Querying AUR...
Repository      : aur
Name            : arch-wiki-cli
Keywords        : None
Version         : 0.3-2
Description     : Search the arch wiki from the cli
URL             : https://github.com/deadhead420/arch-wiki
AUR URL         : https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/arch-wiki-cli
Groups          : None
Licenses        : GPL
Provides        : None
Depends On      : bash
Make Deps       : None
Check Deps      : None
Optional Deps   : None
Conflicts With  : None
Maintainer      : deadhead
Votes           : 0
Popularity      : 0.000000
First Submitted : 2018-07-29
Last Modified   : 2018-07-29
Out-of-date     : No

We can search already installed package by using following option.

$ yay -Qs arch-wiki-man
local/arch-wiki-man 1.3.0-1
    The Arch Wiki as linux man pages

To get information about installed package.

$ yay -Qi arch-wiki-man
Name            : arch-wiki-man
Version         : 1.3.0-1
Description     : The Arch Wiki as linux man pages
Architecture    : any
URL             : https://github.com/greg-js/arch-wiki-man#readme
Licenses        : None
Groups          : None
Provides        : None
Depends On      : nodejs  npm
Optional Deps   : None
Required By     : None
Optional For    : None
Conflicts With  : None
Replaces        : None
Installed Size  : 74.28 MiB
Packager        : Unknown Packager
Build Date      : Friday 16 November 2018 05:37:16 PM IST
Install Date    : Friday 16 November 2018 05:51:51 PM IST
Install Reason  : Explicitly installed
Install Script  : No
Validated By    : None

Use the below command to update any package or packages on your system.

$ yay -Syu
[sudo] password for daygeek: 
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 core                            146.9 KiB   237K/s 00:01 [##############################] 100%
 extra                          1785.3 KiB  1132K/s 00:02 [##############################] 100%
 community                         5.0 MiB  1274K/s 00:04 [##############################] 100%
 multilib                        183.8 KiB  3.39M/s 00:00 [##############################] 100%
 archlinuxfr is up to date
:: Starting full system upgrade...
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Packages (2) manjaro-application-utility-1.1-3  yay-8.1173.0-2

Total Download Size:    1.79 MiB
Total Installed Size:   5.95 MiB
Net Upgrade Size:      -0.03 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] y

About Prakash Subramanian

Prakash Subramanian is a Linux lover and has 3.5+ years of experience in linux server administration with major Linux distribution such as (RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu). He is currently working as a Senior L2 Linux Server administrator.

View all posts by Prakash Subramanian

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