.\" -*- mode: troff; coding: utf-8 -*-
.TH "" "7" ""
.SH NAME
.LP
meta package - an ALPM based package that solely defines \fBpackage relations\fR.
.SH DESCRIPTION
.LP
\fBMeta packages\fR refer to ALPM based packages that do not provide files, but instead only define \fBpackage relations\fR.
They are used for defining the required \fBpackage relations\fR of an abstract scenario or use-case (e.g. \(lqpackages for a minimum system installation\(rq or \(lqall packages needed for a special development environment\(rq).
.PP
\fBMeta packages\fR are handled like any other ALPM based package by a package manager and require their various \fBpackage relations\fR upon installation.
A \f(CR-meta\fR suffix may be used in the \fBalpm-package-name\fR to more easily distinguish \fBmeta packages\fR from other packages.
.SH EXAMPLES
.LP
The following \fBPKGBUILD\fR example defines a \fBmeta package\fR, that upon installation pulls in the \f(CRbash\fR and \f(CRgcc-libs\fR packages:
.LP
.EX
pkgname=example-meta
pkgver=0.1.0
pkgrel=1
pkgdesc=\(dqA meta package example\(dq
arch=(any)
url=\(dqhttps://archlinux.org\(dq
license=('GPL-3.0-or-later')
depends=(
  bash
  gcc-libs
)
.EE
.SH SEE ALSO
.LP
\fBPKGBUILD\fR(5), \fBPKGINFO\fR(5), \fBalpm-package-name\fR(7), \fBalpm-package-relation\fR(7)