Wow, this is effectively the end of the AUR model. There's been a malicious package or two before, but an attack this widespread shows things are fundamentally broken. Guess I'll be switching to a new OS this weekend across multiple machines.
This is a bit of an odd response. Arch very explicitly separates the AUR from everything else and doesn't make it easy to work with, because its security model has always been fundamentally broken and requires you to do your own vetting. It exists to facilitate sharing of package recipes between untrusted users. You should treat it like a pastebin.
I disagree that "These packages are provided as-is. No work has been done to determine their safety or fitness for purpose. Use at your own risk!" is a "fundamentally broken" security model. It's one that places the burden of verification and validation on the system administrator and -in the case of the AUR- fully informs them of this fact. Treating system operators like the adults that they are isn't "fundamentally broken", but it is _much_ more work for that operator than if they relied exclusively on distro-vetted packages.
I do agree that it'd be fucking silly of OP to switch away from Arch because some of the packages in the collection of packages that are explicitly provided as "as-is and unvetted" got some malware in them.
PKGBUILDs are easily readable/reviewable and rarely go beyond a single page. Just take a moment and be responsible and review before running executable files you download from the net. Common sense stuff. That's always been the trade-off and it hasn't really changed much in last 20 years (even though every few years everyone seems to freak out over it).
Arch still hits the sweet spot for me -- unobtrusive, close to upstream, and well-documented enough to keep full control over your own system. Both for the times when you want to go with the most default path and for the cases when you want to deviate and go play in the weeds.
Now, someone could argue that the Spotify app isn't important, but there's a reason it has 268 votes. A better solution would be having packages like spotify in their own repo, and a separate, you-better-verify repo for the rest.
[1] https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/tree/PKGBUILD?h=spoti...
> Now, someone could argue that the Spotify app isn't important, but there's a reason it has 268 votes. A better solution would be having packages like spotify in their own repo, and a separate, you-better-verify repo for the rest.
I mean yeah, but everything is trade off of volunteer + user attention. There is no trusted user™ who uses spotify, so it's not in official packages. So you as user need to maintain it yourself or rely on AUR and verify.
That's not the reason why Spotify is not on extra.
Spotify is not on extra because it's not FOSS.
>The large number of packages and build scripts in the various Arch Linux repositories offer free and open source software for those who prefer it, as well as proprietary software packages for those who embrace functionality over ideology.
[1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_Linux
[2] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Nonfree_applications_packag...
The problem is more that the Arch value proposition kinda presupposes the sort of user that's going to "feel superior" about having it installed[0]. It leads to people that have no business installing Arch Linux (as it doesn't match their usecase) installing Arch Linux because it makes them feel cool.
I don't have a good answer for this, besides making it more apparent what people should expect from having Arch installed. My recommendation usually goes something like this:
* Do you want to have the latest version of all software, regardless of the question if it's well-tested beforehand?
* Do you want to have all software distributed in an as-close-to-upstream approach as possible? Be aware that "upstream" configuration can sometimes significantly differ from defaults most people expect. (Sometimes there's reasons for this, sometimes upstream are a bunch of obstinate jerks.)
* Are you comfortable with a terminal?
* Are you comfortable with needing to suddenly learn how to troubleshoot a broken system after a routine update?
Only if the answer to all of those is "yes", then Arch is suitable for you.
And finally, more specific to servers, where the answer should be "no" if you want to use arch:
* Do you have the expectation to never have to touch the OS after it's been configured correctly besides routine maintenance (ie. installing security updates) and maybe a big update twice a year?
I used to use Arch, before realizing that my system was gradually morphing into a bespoke mess that didn't really serve my needs and that while doing something very specific was possible, I also had to configure a bunch of mundane stuff you aren't normally required to think about - there's never a "just install, activate and adjust as needed" with Arch. All I actually wanted was a distro with more recent software than "3 years old" (Debian/Ubuntu's sluggish package inclusion is not really useful for desktops).
So I looked around and realized Fedora worked better for me: professional, clean, recent software (every 9 months updates, feature freezes are smart enough to account for ie. New Python releases) and not prone to sudden surprises.
[0]: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_Linux is a good example of it.
Sorta like 'car guys' who recommend some old thing you can wrench on.
Basically, my model of a mean arch user would be closer to a DIYer -- likes to follow clear manual instructions, likes sturdy and non-ephemeral things, likes to know what the sausage is made of, but prefers if maintenance costs are minimized (since they will be bearing those costs and are responsible for the thing), so makes choices according to that.
I'm sticking with "hobbyists/dabblers" here, because almost nobody runs Arch in real production scenarios. Its just a fun high-touch thing people can enjoy fucking around with. Nothing wrong with that.
(That is why someone could trivially trojan hundreds of packages and it's NBD. Because "Nobody Cares." Wipe it and start over, funguy.)