Re: pinning and groups of related packages

[Les Gray <lgray@bigpond.net.au>]

On Wed, 28 Dec 2005 21:15:32 +0100
Norbert Tretkowski <norbert@tretkowski.de> wrote:

> If you installed a package with 'apt-get -t sarge-backports
> install foo', you'll get updates from backports.org for that package
> with just running 'apt-get upgrade'.
> 
> I couldn't believe it myself, but I tested it last weekend, and it
> worked. :-)
> 
> Norbert

Another way would be to -

1. Delete /etc/apt/preferences, or only use it for repos from which you
download just 1 or 2 packages, or for packages you don't want to
upgrade.

2. Create a file /etc/apt/apt.conf which contains only this line -

APT::Default-Release "stable";

then run 'apt-get update'.

3. Install backports.org packages with the 'apt-get -t sarge-backports
install foo' method.

4. Install apt-show-versions and use this command to
upgrade all your installed backports.org packages -

# apt-get install `apt-show-versions -u -b | grep sarge-backports | cut -d ' ' -f 1`

(info courtesy apt-howto s. 3.8-9
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/apt-howto/ch-apt-get.en.html )

This way you would not have a messy and incomplete /etc/apt/preferences
file, which you get if you intend on installing lots of non-standard
packages.

Plus you would be able to upgrade all backports.org packages,
regardless of how they were originally installed.