Subject: Bug#216768: apt-get dist-upgrade: wrong handling of formerly-essential packages

From: Yann Dirson <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 21:19:09 +0000

Package: apt
Version: 0.5.4
Severity: normal

When pointing to potato and woody, we get a situation where 2 packages (ldso
and update) lost essential status:

$ apt-cache show ldso | grep-dctrl -sPackage,Version,Essential -P ldso
Package: ldso
Version: 1.9.11-15
Essential: 

Package: ldso
Version: 1.9.11-9
Essential: yes

"apt-get dist-upgrade" insists on installing essential packages.  But in the
light of the present situation, we have a problem to define what to install.
Apparently APT tags ldso and update as "essential" as a whole... and based
on versions decides to force upon us installation of the more recent
non-essential version.

I don't suggest that the older version be installed, but I'd expect APT to
take into account the essential status of the eligible version, and so not
to consider it to be forcedly installed.

Currently, I just cannot make use of dist-upgrade, unless I accept this old
obsolete stuff on my machines, or unless I stop refering to potato.

-- System Information
Debian Release: 3.0
Architecture: i386
Kernel: Linux winnipeg 2.4.22+nfs-ngroups+preempt+lowlatency-station #1 mer oct 8 17:38:11 CEST 2003 i686
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=C

Versions of packages apt depends on:
ii  libc6                  2.2.5-11.5        GNU C Library: Shared libraries an
ii  libstdc++2.10-glibc2.2 1:2.95.4-11woody1 The GNU stdc++ library

-- 
Yann Dirson <[email-masked]>                 http://www.alcove.com/
Technical support manager                Responsable de l'assistance technique
Senior Free-Software Consultant          Consultant senior en Logiciels Libres
Debian developer ([email-masked])                        Développeur Debian

---

From: Matt Zimmerman <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 15:53:47 -0400

retitle 216768 Essential status is based on packages, not individual versions
thanks

> obsolete stuff on my machines, or unless I stop refering to potato.

Just take potato out of your sources.list.  It is obsolete, and you will be
much happier.

-- 
 - mdz