Re: apt-get dist-upgrade-except-foo1[-and-foo2] ?

[Heather <star@starshine.org>]

> > > Question is: Is there a way of upgrade all but these two (or any other)
> > > packages?
> > 
> > Yes, in your favorite apt front-end just tell it to "hold" these two.  For
> > example, in dselect, go to the package and hit = and it will not be upgraded.
> 
Hubert > Or, if you like the command-line, use
       > echo "<packagename> hold" | dpkg --set-selections

Hubert's pegged my favorite.  Being a paranoid sort :) I also use the 
/var/lib/dpkg/info/<packagename>.list to mark the important parts of the
package immutable (chattr +i <filename>).  <packagename>.conffiles lists
the ones debian thinks are ok to change, if you're not familiar with that
package. 

That way bugs in the hold system (if they exist) and my clumsy root fingers 
aren't going to screw up files I've decided are important enough to not trust 
to automatics.

btw, I really enjoy using console-apt most because it doesn't just *do* the
load, it shows you what dependencies it had to tag first.  This gives me a nice
chance to do stuff in small bursts most of the time, rather than trust 
dist-upgrade ... which I do use, but only rarely.

* Heather Stern * star@ many places...