what is /var/lib/dpkg/available good for?

[Harald Dunkel <harri@afaics.de>]

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Hi folks,

Using a foreign repository my /var/lib/dpkg/available got corrupted.
The workaround was easy:

	echo -n "" >/var/lib/dpkg/available

At the next upgrade time there was no visible slowdown, so I wonder
what is this file good for?


Regards

Harri
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