[Solved]Do you need just a PKGBUILD file to install an AUR app?

Question

I've long wondered whether or not one needs to actually download a tarball in order to build a package from the AUR.  Some people have posted here on the forum that all you need to do is download the PKGBUILD file and run "makepkg -i PKGBUILD."
I have tried this a few times but everytime I had to download the tarball or I got an error when I run "makepkg."  IE, the last error I got was "(app name's) install file doesn't exist."  Am I just fundamentally stupid or ignorant?  I have looked at the wiki pages for the docs about the AUR and the "make your own packages" page as well as the makepkg page.  I have yet to see where in those pages it says you can just use the PKGBUILD file alone. 
MS
Last edited by MoonSwan (2012-07-25 20:43:31)

Answer 1

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/AU … g_packages
Was this not clear enough?
Here's a neat trick: place the following in /etc/bash.bashrc (or ~/.bashrc, if you want) and then restart the terminal.
alias e='nano -x'
# For AUR packages
ia() {
cd ~/.builds
wget -q "https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/${1:0:2}/$1/$1.tar.gz"
tar xf "$1.tar.gz"
rm "$1.tar.gz"
cd $1
ls
alias m='makepkg -s'
alias I='sudo pacman -U'
alias Ii='sudo pacman -U *.xz'
Then, to install, say, bloboats you can just type:
$ ia bloboats
$ e PKGB[press Tab]
<see that it's all good and no "rm -rf /" anywhere (lol), which implies at least a basic understanding of how scripting works>
$ m
$ Ii
$ bloboats
Have fun.
PS: This method is better than using some AUR helper; at least you're aware of what you're installing. And with minimal typing.
Last edited by DSpider (2012-07-25 19:53:11)