pacinfo

Display information about a specific package

$ pacinfo [package_name]

$ pacinfo --no-timeout [package_name]

$ pacinfo --raw [package_name]

$ pacinfo --verbose [package_name]

$ pacinfo --help

$ pacinfo --version

pacinfo [options] <package>...

-h, --help
    Display a help message and exit.

-V, --version
    Show program's version number and exit.

The pacinfo command is a utility on Arch Linux and its derivatives, designed to provide quick and concise information about installed packages. It acts as a lightweight wrapper script, primarily invoking the powerful pacman -Qi command behind the scenes. Its main purpose is to simplify the retrieval of detailed package metadata, offering a user-friendly interface without requiring users to remember specific pacman flags for information queries.

When executed with a package name, pacinfo fetches and displays crucial details such as the package's name, version, architecture, a brief description, its URL, associated licenses, and the groups it belongs to. Furthermore, it lists dependencies (both required and optional), reverse dependencies (packages that require it), conflicts, and provides information about the installation size, the packager, build date, and the exact installation date. It's an essential tool for system administrators and users alike who need to quickly ascertain the characteristics and relationships of software packages on their Arch-based systems.

pacinfo is a simple wrapper script that executes pacman -Qi. As such, it inherits the behavior and limitations of pacman -Qi and does not provide additional options beyond its basic help and version flags. It is exclusively available on Arch Linux and its derivatives, typically as part of the pacman-contrib package.

When you run pacinfo <package>, it effectively executes pacman -Qi <package>. This underlying command provides comprehensive details about the specified installed package, including:

Repository, Name, Version, Description, Architecture, URL, Licenses, Groups, Provides, Depends On, Optional Deps, Required By, Optional For, Conflicts With, Replaces, Installed Size, Packager, Build Date, Install Date, Install Reason, Validated By.

pacinfo is part of the pacman-contrib package, a collection of useful scripts designed to complement the pacman package manager on Arch Linux. Its purpose has consistently been to provide a quick and user-friendly interface for displaying detailed package information, simplifying a common query task that would otherwise require specific pacman arguments.

pacman(8), pacman -Qi(8), pacman -Ql(8)