Bug#787298: (no subject)
Despite reporting this bug, I wasn't initially subscribed to it, so I am just
catching up on the discussion.
According to the wiki <https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Cloud/VagrantBaseBoxes>,
the Vagrant base boxes include "Vagrant specific enhancements". One of the
enhancements specifically mentioned is python-apt (which seems to have been
specifically installed so that Ansible will work correctly).
I agree that it would be better if Ansible's apt module did not rely on
aptitude, but it was incredibly confusing to try and figure what was happening:
- The previous unofficial Debian Vagrant base box I used included aptitude by
default.
- The cloud providers that I use all include aptitude by default in their
images.
- In order to successfully provision with Ansible's apt module and the official
Debian images, I needed to run apt-get update before installing aptitude.
Personally, I think that if third-party software like Chef or Puppet are
installed in the base box (with all of their dependencies), it also makes sense
to install aptitude so that upgrading packages with Ansible works properly.
Reply to: