Installing packages/ using pacman behind Firewall (Arch Linux)
 

Recently i have installed Arch Linux on my laptop.

i have got all the problems related to hardware drivers cleared. (No x.org yet so no nVidia Driver)...

i am working behind a restricted university network so i cannot download .tar.bz2 or tar.gz and any such extensions over internet so it is not possible for me to install packages form online repository...

Please suggest me any better alternative for my problem apart from directly compiling and installing form source files!!

Use something else. Arch means internet access. No alternative.

Is there any way to provide a local repository to pacman so that i download the source of whatever packages and dependencies i need and install it through pacman!!

What kind of university network would restrict you in this way? I would talk to the IT department and explain why you need to download these file types and ask them to show you how to do it.

It certainly is possible to download the files somewhere else, but then why not simply do your installations and upgrades somewhere else also? For example, are there not local coffee shops with internet?

PS:
Assuming that you have other Linux users at this university, there will be other people that also needs these file types---not just for Arch. If the IT department does not want to change their rules, ask them to set up a mirror. **They** can get the files, check for viruses, etc. and then put them up on the mirror.

Sir,

i am a studying in SRM University, India. My University website http://www.srmuniv.ac.in ... i am one of the few linux users here and perhaps i may be the only one who uses linux as my primary OS in my university. So setting up mirror is not possible here. i got the complete 5 DVD set of Debian 5.01 from NRC-FOSS people here in chennai city so that i need not download anything from internet for installing most basic and popular packages. But the 5 DVD repository restricts me from using the same old packages and library. So i have switched to Arch so i can get a opportunity to optimize everything but installing Xorg and Gnome will take me to download 100s of packages.

Talking to management for providing me access to tar.gz and other package extensions is not possible because i am only studying 2nd year!! so they do not consider it so important as i am not working on any projects related to linux OS installation.

Same problem here :(, i guess have to purchase bandwidth privately for yourself...

Of course you can download packages and create a local repository to install them later on.

However, how are you planning on downloading every single dependency of a package? Example:
To install xorg-server, there will be probably 20 or more dependencies. You will need to manually download them from an Arch mirror and then install. Worth it?

Then, after a whle all those gets replaced as Arch is a rolling-release distro.So you have to download new packages again and upgrade your system.

Hence I recommend you something which doesn't require internet access for install. Like openSUSE? Slackware?
Also, why only Arch Linux?

What _can_ you download? I can't see why any IT department would want to block tarballs, so my guess is they're using a whitelisting system.

@~sHyLoCk~

slackware.. i will definitely give a try :)