Package Kurtosis CLI for Arch Linux (AUR)

[barnabasbusa]

Summary

Publish the Kurtosis CLI as an AUR (Arch User Repository) package so Arch Linux users can install it via their package manager (e.g. yay -S kurtosis or paru -S kurtosis).

Motivation

Kurtosis currently provides installation via Homebrew and apt, but has no official path for Arch Linux users. Arch has a large developer user base, and AUR packages are straightforward to maintain for Go CLI tools.

What's needed

1. Create a PKGBUILD for the AUR that:

   • Pulls a tagged release tarball from GitHub
   • Builds the CLI binary from cli/cli/ with the correct ldflags (version injection from kurtosis_version/kurtosis_version.go)
   • Includes go and gcc as makedepends (CGo is used)
   • Installs the binary to /usr/bin/kurtosis
   • Generates and installs shell completions (bash, zsh, fish)

2. Register the package on AUR at aur.archlinux.org

3. Update documentation to include Arch Linux installation instructions:

   • Add AUR install steps to the main installation docs (alongside Homebrew/apt)
   • Include examples for common AUR helpers (yay, paru, makepkg)
   • Update any "supported platforms" or "getting started" pages to list Arch Linux

4. Consider both package variants:

   • kurtosis — build from source
   • kurtosis-bin — pre-built binary from GitHub releases

Notes

• The PKGBUILD is a single file — low maintenance burden
• Version updates can be automated with tools like nvchecker + aur-rebuild