How to Install Slack on Arch Linux

Real-time communication and collaboration are made possible via the well-known messaging and collaboration platform, Slack. Companies and organizations typically utilize it to ease communication and teamwork between people, teams, and departments. Instant messaging, file sharing, phone and video conferencing, as well as interaction with other services and applications are just a few of the capabilities that Slack offers. Users can directly contact other users or groups of users in addition to creating channels for certain subjects, projects, or teams. To improve the platform’s functioning, Slack also provides a broad range of third-party connections including those with Google Drive, Trello, and GitHub.

Install Slack Using AUR

AUR is used by Arch Linux users to download and install the packages that are not officially supported by Arch Linux. Before starting with the installation, we should update our system. For this, we use the instructions that are attached in the following. In this command, the “pacman” is the package manager, “-S” is used to synchronize the package database, and “-y” is used to update all packages. Before continuing, the user is asked to confirm the installation.

The following command is used to install the “git” package and the “base-devel” package group on an Arch Linux system. The “git” package is a version control system that allows the users to track the changes in files and collaborate on projects. The “base-devel” package group contains a set of packages that are commonly used to build and develop the software on Arch Linux.

It’s time to clone a repository called “slack-desktop” from the Arch Linux User Repository (AUR) using the version control system, Git. The command starts by creating a new directory called “slack-desktop” and then proceeds to download all of the files from the remote repository. It shows the progress of the clone operation including the number of objects that are being downloaded, the percentage of completion, and the speed at which the objects are being downloaded. Once the clone operation is complete, the command confirms that all of the deltas (changes) are resolved and the cloned repository is ready for use.

The “cd slack-desktop/” command is used to change the current working directory to a directory called “slack-desktop” on the local machine.

The “makepkg” is a tool that is used to create the Arch Linux packages from the source code, and “-sri” are options that are passed to the makepkg command. Therefore, we use it here. The “-s” option stands for “–syncdeps” which is used to install the missing dependencies before building the package. The “-r” option stands for “–rmdeps” which is used to remove the dependencies that are no longer needed after the package is built. The “-i” option stands for “-install” which is used to install the package after it is built. The command starts by checking the runtime dependencies, installing the missing dependencies, and resolving any conflicts that might occur. It then proceeds to download the package files, check the package integrity, and load them.

The following “yay -S slack-desktop” command is used to install the “slack-desktop” package from the Arch Linux User Repository (AUR) using the “yay” AUR helper. “Yay” is a command line utility to manage the packages on Arch Linux that can be used to search for, install, and remove the packages from the AUR. The command first checks for conflicts and inner conflicts. Then, it lists the package that is going to be installed and its version number. However, the command output shows that “slack-desktop-4.29.149-1 is up to date” which means that the package is already installed on the system. Therefore, it prompts the user to confirm the installation before proceeding. After a while, it is installed successfully.

Install Slack Using Snap

The “git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/snapd.git” command is used to clone a package from the Arch Linux User Repository (AUR) using the version control system, Git. The command starts by specifying the repository location which, in this case, is “https://aur.archlinux.org/snapd.git” which is the official AUR repository for the “snapd” package. The command then creates a new directory named “snapd” and copies the entire repository to that directory. It shows the progress of the cloning process including the number of objects being cloned, the total size of the repository, and the speed at which the cloning takes place.

The “cd snapd” command is used to navigate to the “snapd” directory in the local file system. After this command is executed, all the subsequent commands are executed within the snapd directory, allowing the user to access and manipulate the files within that directory.

The “makepkg -si” command is used once again to build and install a package from the Arch Linux User Repository (AUR) using the makepkg utility. In this case, the command starts by building the “snapd” package from the sources that are present in the snapd directory. After the user’s confirmation, the command installs the package and runs the post-transaction hooks.

It’s time to enable the snapd service in our Arch Linux system. The “systemctl” command is used to control and check the status of the systemd units (services, sockets, etc.). Therefore, we use it here to enable and start the snapd.socket service on the system. The service creates a symlink to the service in the /etc/systemd/system/sockets.target.wants/ directory so that it is automatically started at boot time.

Last but not least, the attached instructions install the Slack app from the Snap Store. It installs the Slack package from the “stable” channel and shows the progress of the installation. Once the installation is complete, the command shows that the Slack package version 4.29.149 from Slack is installed and also warns about 1 new warning that can be viewed by running the “snap warnings” command.

Conclusion

Because it makes real-time communication and collaboration easy for developers and system administrators who are operating on Arch Linux projects, it can be very helpful to them. It may be used, for instance, to promote communication and cooperation among team members who are engaged in the same project. Slack for Arch Linux can help the teams collaborate more effectively, communicate more effectively, and speed up the overall development.