Arch Linux

mbsi

Member

Registered: 2022-03-23

Posts: 8

Homebrew

A friend of mine has recently made the switch to Arch from windows. He's pretty insistent on using brew for python packages instead of using the AUR. I can't find anything on this aside from a single reddit thread saying it's a bad idea and giving no specifics as to why.

Will this cause issues later down the line for him?

I'll add that he's works in the tech field and knows a good bit about what he is doing. I'm just baffled by his decision here.

Last edited by mbsi (2026-05-22 03:27:17)

5hridhyan

Member

Registered: 2025-12-25

Posts: 822

Website

Re: Homebrew

I'm just baffled by his decision here.

Could just be preference, cross-platform consistency, or possibly avoiding distro-managed Python restrictions like PEP 668, but: https://docs.brew.sh/Homebrew-and-Pytho … xample)%3A? , or a natural habit of a Mac user

Will this cause issues later down the line for him?

It probably won’t break his Arch install since Homebrew stays fairly isolated, but mixing package ecosystems can sometimes cause PATH conflicts, linker issues, or odd build problems with Python packages that compile C extensions...

Last edited by 5hridhyan (2026-05-22 03:58:40)

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 75,841

Re: Homebrew

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Python … management
The main issue is with sideloads not using a venv.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php?ti … did=783338
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php?ti … did=819534

It's been years since people came up w/ python installations shredded by pip.

Your friend should understand that this will install a complete parallel python stack and NOT suffice for arch packages that depend on python - and to keep hands away from "ln -s" considerations itr.

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