Re: Release notes
Justin B Rye wrote:
> This patch also tweaks section 2.1.3:
>
> The preferred program for interactive package management from a
> terminal is _aptitude_. For a non-interactive command line interface
> for package management, it is recommended to use _apt-get_. [...]
>
> Obviously, if I say "apt-get purge dbus", it won't perform that action
> "non-interactively", it'll ask "Do you want to continue [Y/n]?" - it's
> just that it won't use a persistent textual UI.
See also http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2013/04/msg00322.html
for further evidence that unless you already know what it means, this
jargon only makes sense when it's accompanied by an explanation.
This patch incorporates the changes for "redundant/obsolete" packages
along with the revised text for aptitude modes, which is purely
additive - it doesn't remove the arcane One True Name of Visual Mode,
it just supplements it with an intelligible description. The one I'm
using, "full-screen", wasn't my first choice, but it's the one that
automatically wins any argument that's based on the length of time it
has been in a man page.
Again, alternative suggestions other than "wontfix" are welcome.
--
JBR with qualifications in linguistics, experience as a Debian
sysadmin, and probably no clue about this particular package
Index: whats-new.dbk
===================================================================
--- whats-new.dbk (revision 9722)
+++ whats-new.dbk (working copy)
@@ -437,9 +437,10 @@
<section id="pkgmgmt">
<title>Package management</title>
<para>
-The preferred program for interactive package management from a terminal is
-<command>aptitude</command>. For a non-interactive command line interface
-for package management, it is recommended to use <command>apt-get</command>.
+The preferred program for extensive interactions with the package
+management sysyem is <command>aptitude</command> in its full-screen
+<quote>visual</quote> mode. For individual package management actions,
+it is recommended to use <command>apt-get</command> on the command line.
<command>apt-get</command> is also the preferred tool for upgrades
between major releases.
</para>
Index: upgrading.dbk
===================================================================
--- upgrading.dbk (revision 9722)
+++ upgrading.dbk (working copy)
@@ -300,7 +300,8 @@
linkend="old-sources"/>.
</para>
<para>
-To perform this review, launch <command>aptitude</command> in <quote>visual mode</quote> and
+To perform this review, launch <command>aptitude</command> in its
+full-screen <quote>visual mode</quote> and
press <keycap>g</keycap> (<quote>Go</quote>). If it shows any actions, you should review them and either fix
them or implement the suggested actions. If no actions are suggested you will
be presented with a message saying <quote>No packages are scheduled to be installed,
@@ -718,32 +719,46 @@
<listitem>
<para>
Remove forgotten packages. If you have
-<systemitem role="package">popularity-contest</systemitem> installed, you can use
-<command>popcon-largest-unused</command> to list the packages you do not use
-that occupy the most space. You can also use
-<command>deborphan</command> or <command>debfoster</command> to find obsolete
-packages (see <xref linkend="obsolete"/> ). Alternatively you can start
-<command>aptitude</command> in <quote>visual mode</quote> and find obsolete packages under
-<quote>Obsolete and Locally Created Packages</quote>.
+used <command>aptitude</command> or <command>apt-get</command> to manually
+install packages in &oldreleasename; it will have kept track of those packages
+you manually installed, and will be able to mark as redundant those packages
+pulled in by dependencies alone which are no longer needed due to a package being
+removed. They will not mark for removal packages that you manually installed. To
+remove automatically installed packages that are no longer used, run:
</para>
+<screen>
+# apt-get autoremove
+</screen>
+<para>
+You can also use <command>deborphan</command>,
+<command>debfoster</command>, or <command>cruft</command> to find redundant
+packages. In default mode, <command>deborphan</command> will only report
+redundant libraries: packages in the <quote><literal>libs</literal></quote> or
+<quote><literal>oldlibs</literal></quote> sections that are not used by any
+other packages. Do not blindly remove the packages these tools present,
+especially if you are using aggressive non-default options that are prone to
+false positives. It is highly recommended that you manually review the
+packages suggested for removal (i.e. their contents, sizes, and descriptions)
+before you remove them.
+</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Remove packages that take up too much space and are not currently
-needed (you
-can always reinstall them after the upgrade). You can list the packages that
-take up the most disk space with <command>dpigs</command> (available in the
-<systemitem role="package">debian-goodies</systemitem> package) or with
-<command>wajig</command> (running <literal>wajig size</literal>).
-</para>
-<para>
-You can list packages that take up most of the disk space with
-<systemitem role="package">aptitude</systemitem>. Start
-<command>aptitude</command> in <quote>visual mode</quote>,
+needed (you can always reinstall them after the upgrade). If you have
+<systemitem role="package">popularity-contest</systemitem> installed,
+you can use <command>popcon-largest-unused</command> to list the
+packages you do not use that occupy the most space. You can find the
+packages that just take up the most disk space with <command>dpigs</command>
+(available in the <systemitem role="package">debian-goodies</systemitem>
+package) or with <command>wajig</command> (running <literal>wajig
+size</literal>). They can also be found with <systemitem
+role="package">aptitude</systemitem>. Start <command>aptitude</command> in
+its full-screen <quote>visual mode</quote>,
select <menuchoice><guimenu>Views</guimenu><guimenuitem>New Flat Package
List</guimenuitem></menuchoice>, press <keycap>l</keycap> and enter
-<literal>~i</literal>, press <keycap>S</keycap> and enter
-<literal>~installsize</literal>, then it will give you nice list to work
+<literal>~i</literal>, then press <keycap>S</keycap> and enter
+<literal>~installsize</literal>. This will give you handy list to work
with.
</para>
</listitem>
@@ -1907,7 +1922,8 @@
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
-Remove obsolete and unused packages as described in <xref linkend="obsolete"/>.
+Remove newly redundant or obsolete packages as described in
+<xref linkend="sufficient-space"/> and <xref linkend="obsolete"/>.
You should review which configuration files they use and consider purging
the packages to remove their configuration files.
</para>
@@ -1966,32 +1982,6 @@
<quote>Obsolete and Locally Created Packages</quote> entry.
</para>
<para>
-Also, if you have used <command>aptitude</command> or
-<command>apt-get</command> to manually install packages in &oldreleasename;
-it will have kept track of those packages you manually installed and will be
-able to mark as obsolete those packages pulled in by dependencies alone which
-are no longer needed if a package has been removed.
-<command>aptitude</command> and <systemitem role="package">apt</systemitem>,
-unlike <command>deborphan</command>, will not mark for removal packages that
-you manually installed, as opposed to those that were automatically
-installed through dependencies. To remove automatically installed packages
-that are no longer used, run:
-</para>
-<screen>
-# apt-get autoremove
-</screen>
-<para>
-There are additional tools you can use to find obsolete packages such as
-<command>deborphan</command>, <command>debfoster</command> or
-<command>cruft</command>. <command>deborphan</command> is highly recommended,
-although it will (in default mode) only report obsolete libraries: packages in
-the <quote><literal>libs</literal></quote> or <quote><literal>oldlibs</literal></quote> sections that are not used by any other packages. Do not
-blindly remove the packages these tools present, especially if you are using
-aggressive non-default options that are prone to produce false positives. It
-is highly recommended that you manually review the packages suggested for
-removal (i.e. their contents, size and description) before you remove them.
-</para>
-<para>
The <ulink url="&url-bts;">Debian Bug Tracking System</ulink>
often provides additional information on why the package was removed. You
should review both the archived bug reports for the package itself and the
@@ -2149,7 +2139,7 @@
to improve system maintainability. To ease the upgrade path in such cases,
&releasename; often provides <quote>dummy</quote> packages: empty packages that have the same name as
the old package in &oldreleasename; with dependencies that cause the new packages to be
-installed. These <quote>dummy</quote> packages are considered obsolete packages after the
+installed. These <quote>dummy</quote> packages are considered redundant after the
upgrade and can be safely removed.
</para>
<para>
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