Some packages install in under a minute, while alternatives which seem functionally similar, take hours.
Sometimes there are several available options to fit a use case and I would like to use it now. Is it possible to anticipate which one will likely be the fastest to get rolling?
Generally I like to install via yay.
Searching around here is what I learned. Agree?:
- AUR will be slower
- Certain categories of package, like web browser, are inherently slow
- Selecting
-bin will be faster if available
Is there some way to guess beyond that? Certain programing languages take longer than others? Is it in relationship to existing packages on the system? Other characteristic? Some kind of dry-run feature to estimate?
Obviously I don't have the fastest computer. I have added MAKEFLAGS="-j4" to /etc/makepkg.conf so at least all 4 cores can get used.
Once I realize a package is going to take ages to get ready, is it possible to safely intervene to stop the process? I try to avoid it because in general I understand arch-based distros don't like "partial" installs. But is it safe to stop compiling? No changes have yet been made, right?
My biggest issue with YAY is the occasional mandatory compiling of an app seemingly randomly, so I go in thinking a quick update will turn into a much slower one because of the compiling it does. I haven't looked into it, but if there was a way to alert before doing this via a flag, it'd save me time and sometimes frustration.
I have learned over the years to try to install the -bin version as much as possible, but sometimes that's not enough if flagged out of date (Joplin especially), so I sometimes end up installing the appimage.