Re: dist upgrade experiences and problems

[Jens Schmalzing <j.s@lmu.de>]

Hi,

Martin Kuball writes:

> I'v just upgraded my woody to testing.

> apt-get dist-upgrade [...] wants to remove almost all of the kde packages.

> So what's going on here?

You have, probably out of a momentary fancy, squandered a highly
stable and reliable operating system and switched to its inherently
broken cousin.  Deal with it.

In the particular case you mention, it may be enough to just `apt-get
install kde', write down what packages get removed during the process,
afterwards reinstall the ones that you actually miss, and the proceed
with your `apt-get dist-upgrade'.  In order to see what packages get
installed, removed, upgraded, and so on, it helps to use the -u
option, or have an /etc/apt/apt.conf containing the line

 APT::Get::Show-Upgraded "true";

Also, keep in mind that sarge is moving a hell of a lot faster than
woody, so you may want to upgrade frequently.  I order to clean the
system of unnecessary files and packages, you can use cruft and
deborphan, respectively.  This not only keeps the system lean, thereby
reducing its size and the time for upgrades, but also removes many
potential friction points in the package system.

Regards, Jens.

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