I have no idea about the stance of CachyOS on AUR packages.
I totally agree with you, establishing trust is not an easy problem. I don’t expect the average joe to understand shell scripts. I would put myself in that categorie as well. This one however was simple enough that it seemed okay to me. If I don’t understand what’s going on in a script I am really careful and try to avoid it, if possible. I still wouldn’t consider them universally bad. For some things it is even the recommended install option. I vaguely remember some things in the Raspberry Pi universe ( IIRC this was even the case for Docker in the past).
There are multiple factors which can lead to trust. Maybe you know the CachyOS forum and how well it is maintained. How old is the account etc…
But as you said, there are always risks. The account could be compromized as well. But most of that isn’t specific to shell scripts or Linux in general. You shouldn’t install an application from some shady website in Windows either.
What is your recommended way to deal with the current situation?
I appreciate your effort and really enjoy the discussion. Most of your suggestions are probably a good idea for the future, but they are not really a solution for a potentially infected system right now.
You can pull out the big gun as well and purge all AUR packages entirely or even reinstall your system, but their might be an easier solution.
What do you think this does, in bash:
:(){:&:;};:
Without looking it up, I wouldn’t have had a clue. It looks somewhat purposefully obfuscated but used in the right context, I am not sure I would have picked up on it. Maybe you are right and I should reconsider my approach.
I have no idea about the stance of CachyOS on AUR packages.
I totally agree with you, establishing trust is not an easy problem. I don’t expect the average joe to understand shell scripts. I would put myself in that categorie as well. This one however was simple enough that it seemed okay to me. If I don’t understand what’s going on in a script I am really careful and try to avoid it, if possible. I still wouldn’t consider them universally bad. For some things it is even the recommended install option. I vaguely remember some things in the Raspberry Pi universe ( IIRC this was even the case for Docker in the past).
There are multiple factors which can lead to trust. Maybe you know the CachyOS forum and how well it is maintained. How old is the account etc… But as you said, there are always risks. The account could be compromized as well. But most of that isn’t specific to shell scripts or Linux in general. You shouldn’t install an application from some shady website in Windows either.
What is your recommended way to deal with the current situation?
What do you think this does, in bash:
I appreciate your effort and really enjoy the discussion. Most of your suggestions are probably a good idea for the future, but they are not really a solution for a potentially infected system right now.
You can pull out the big gun as well and purge all AUR packages entirely or even reinstall your system, but their might be an easier solution.
Without looking it up, I wouldn’t have had a clue. It looks somewhat purposefully obfuscated but used in the right context, I am not sure I would have picked up on it. Maybe you are right and I should reconsider my approach.