Octopi

What is Octopi?

Octopi is a GUI package manager built on Qt that makes using both of the Arch/Manjaro prime terminal package managers - pacman & yaourt - simple point & click operations.

Octopi is capable of handling system updates & the installation of individual packages from both the official repositories & from the AUR. It can search for files using its search field, & be told whether to use the official repos or AUR or both.

Octopi uses a panel applet notifier (the octopi logo) which will turn red when there is a system update available.

Right-clicking on the panel applet at any time will give an option to open octopi on your desktop.

The Octopi Help Menu - Usage - option output

The Following is output in the lower information output field of Octopi, when its Help Menu, option Usage F1 is chosen:

A Qt-based Pacman frontend, licensed under the terms of GPL v2.

For more information, visit: http://octopiproject.wordpress.com.

Package classification

• An installed package
• An installed package (not required by others)
• A foreign package, installed from AUR
• A non installed package
• An outdated package
• An outdated foreign package
• A newer than repository package

Basic usage help

• Position the mouse over a package to see its description
• Double click an installed package to see its contents
• Right click package to install/reinstall or remove it

Alt+key sequences

• Alt+1 to switch to 'Info' tab
• Alt+2 to switch to 'Files' tab
• Alt+3 to switch to 'Transaction' tab
• Alt+4 to switch to 'Output' tab
• Alt+5 to switch to 'News' tab
• Alt+6 or 'F1' to show this help page

Control+key sequences

• Ctrl+D or 'File/Sync database' to sync the local database with latest remote changes (pacman -Sy)
• Ctrl+U or 'File/System upgrade' to make a full system upgrade (pacman -Su)
• Ctrl+L to find a package in the package list
• Ctrl+F to search for text inside tab Files, News and Usage
• Ctrl+M or 'Transaction/Commit' to start installation/removal of selected packages
• Ctrl+E or 'Transaction/Cancel' to clear the selection of to be removed/installed packages
• Ctrl+G or 'File/Get latest distro news' to retrieve the latest RSS based distro news
• Ctrl+Q or 'File/Exit' to exit the application
• Control+shift+key sequences:
• Ctrl+Shift+C to clean local packages cache (pacman -Sc)
• Ctrl+Shift+G to display all package groups
• Ctrl+Shift+R to remove Pacman's transaction lock file
• Ctrl+Shift+Y to display AUR group

F+key sequences

• F1 to show this help page
• F4 to open a Terminal within the selected directory at Files tab
• F6 to open a File Manager within the selected directory at Files tab
• F10 to maximize/demaximize package list view
• F12 to maximize/demaximize Tab's view

Summary

As can be seen from the above, Octopi has many easily used features for those that prefer not to use the command line tools pacman & yaourt. The Octopi menu & the right mouse button menu are both simple, straight forward & easily understood, which makes the use of Octopi for those new to it very easy to learn.

Package Management Information Resources:

There have been many improvements in Octopi the last year. Please visit the Octopi web site to see what they are: [1]

For an introduction to the Manjaro way of using the Arch rolling release system please view this wiki page: [2]

There is a growing number of Manjaro wiki pages in the Software Management section that are well worth reading for those new to the rolling release way: [3]

Support:

For more on Octopi:

* This is the Classic Manjaro forum thread: [4]
* The new forum has a tag for Octopi [5]