golfer wrote:
The only way I seem to be able to get packages installed is to go back on line and do the 'apt-get dist-upgrade'. For one or two packages, this may be ok, but it's not something I want to waste time doing routinely.
The dist-upgrade option is not intended for routine use. Unless you are mistaking it for the "upgrade" option, it may be a bug or a deprecated
feature. An off-line dist-upgrade seems like a problematic feature to support.