this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
35 points (97.3% liked)

Linux

12488 readers
183 users here now

A community for everything relating to the GNU/Linux operating system (except the memes!)

Also, check out:

Original icon base courtesy of lewing@isc.tamu.edu and The GIMP

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Ategon@programming.dev
anzo@programming.dev
dwraf_of_ignorance@programming.dev
35
Decman Is a Declarative Package and Configuration Manager for Arch Linux (linuxiac.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by cm0002@europe.pub to c/linux@programming.dev
6 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Here’s a new tool with strong potential that will appeal to advanced Arch users, especially those who miss a NixOS-style approach to system management (or who are DevOps-oriented). I’m talking about Decman, which has reached its first stable 1.0 release.

Here’s what you can do with it. Decman manages an Arch Linux installation by enforcing a declared system state (written directly in Python) instead of applying changes imperatively.

In a simple configuration, you specify which packages must be installed, which configuration files must exist and their contents, which systemd services must be enabled, and which tools, such as Flatpak or AUR helpers, are in use. This definition is the source of truth.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Fijxu@programming.dev 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Mhmm, better than nothing, NixOs does this job but is an entirely different ecosystem that has their own problems even if its so good.

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm dying for this sort of thing to be on debian.

[–] NostraDavid@programming.dev 1 points 1 week ago

It's the reason I switched to NixOS - I can't pin for shit in Debian, and I'm stuck at whatever version they want things to be (like ye olde git). Some programs I just want to be bleeding edge, the rest I don't care much about (unless it breaks).

Meanwhile, I can pin things in Cargo (Rust), and uv (Python) just fine, which is why it stings so hard that Debian doesn't have it :(