Re: Bug#1385: dselect selects some packages without asking
Bill Mitchell writes ("Bug#1385: dselect selects some packages without asking"):
> I've been using the various incarnations for some time, and I still
> quite often have dselect install packages which I hadn't expected
> to be installed.
The reason for this usually appears to be that you wanted to leave out
some packages that are required to satisfy Recommends or Depends
fields in others you are installing. Only experienced users, who know
how to override dselect and make it stick, should do this.
> Perhaps the [I]nstall section needs a confirmation
> phase before beginning installation, to confirm:
>
> 1. That the packages which dselect intends to install are actually
> what the user wants installed. If not, the user should be able
> to abort the [I]nstall and go back to the main menu.
You can already get this by looking at the package list, using
[S]elect. I don't think yet another special interface for browsing
the to-be-installed list would be helpful.
> 2. Whether a package-by-package upgrade attempt should be made
> for every installed package, or whether this should be skipped
> and just the packages selected for installation installed
> (much more quickly than if all packages were looked at).
This doesn't appear to make any sense. Whether upgrading or doing a
fresh installation, dpkg processes all the available packages in turn,
once each, and either processes it or not.
I can't (won't) assume that the filenames are anything sensible.
Ian.
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