makepkg & Writing PKGBUILDs

Packaging turns "some script I run" into "software the system manages" — upgrades, removal, dependencies, all consistent.

Environment setup

sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel git
useradd-style tip: build as NORMAL user, never root
mkdir -p ~/build && cd ~/build

Minimal PKGBUILD anatomy

pkgname=hello-acreetion
pkgver=1.0
pkgrel=1
pkgdesc='Greeting demo package'
arch=('x86_64')
license=('MIT')
depends=('glibc')
source=("https://example.com/files/${pkgname}-${pkgver}.tar.gz")
sha256sums=('SKIP')            # replace via updpkgsums

build() {
  cd "${srcdir}/${pkgname}-${pkgver}"
  make
}
package() {
  cd "${srcdir}/${pkgname}-${pkgver}"
  make DESTDIR="${pkgdir}" install
}

Build & inspect:

updpkgcompletesums 2>/dev/null || updpkgsums
makepkg -si                   # build, then install with dependency resolution
tar tf hello-acreetion-1.0-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst | less    # audit contents
namcap PKGBUILD               # lint warnings

Iteration speed tools

makepkg -Cf clean rebuild
makedeb-style testing: keep pkgrel bumping on repackaging same version
Split packages, git sources (source=git+…#tag=v2), and check() blocks — see man PKGBUILD, genuinely well-written

Publishing privately

repo-add /srv/myrepo/myrepo.db.tar.gz ./hello-acreetion-*.pkg.tar.zst

Then wire [myorg] per AcreetionOS Repository Architecture. For signed publishing: create/maintain a dedicated key in the keyring chain rather than TrustAll shortcuts.

Reading others' recipes

The AUR is a university: yay -G <pkg> downloads any recipe locally for study (Using the AUR with yay).