How do non explicitly installed package dependencies get updated in Arch? Do they update independently of the package that is dependent on them, or do they get updated when the parent package updates? Or is it some secret third thing?
In most distros (including Arch) they get automatically updated to the latest version compatible with the packages that depend on it. As soon as all the packages that depend on it get updated and support a newer version of the dep, it also gets updated.
This is different to what I’ve been told in another answer. I’ve been told that dependencies can update without care about compatibility. In the case of official packages, the maintainers work around that by timing releases appropriately, but in the case of AUR packages, the dependencies can and do update without care about the packages that depend on them
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