Re: dpkg - the letter prefixes.. what do they mean

[Harry Putnam <reader@newsguy.com>]

Mark Janssen <m.janssen@syconos.nl> writes:

> dpkg -l | head
>
> The first 3 lines of the dpkg output list what the letters mean.
>
> maniac@widow:/etc/courier/smtpaccess$ dpkg -l | head
> Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
> |
> Status=Not/Installed/Config-files/Unpacked/Failed-config/Half-installed
> |/ Err?=(none)/Hold/Reinst-required/X=both-problems (Status,Err:
> uppercase=bad)
> ||/ Name           Version        Description
> +++-==============-==============-============================================
> ii  a2ps           4.13b-15       GNU a2ps 'Anything to PostScript'
> converter 
> ii  acct           6.3.5-30       The GNU Accounting utilities.
> ii  adduser        3.45           Add and remove users and groups

Thanks.

I saw that stuff and couldn't make heads or tails of it.
My feeling is that it explains nothing and is downright confusing.

Some of it, one can guess.

It'd make some sense to have something in the man page for dpkg,
especially a note at the section on `-l' that tells you point blank what
each column means.  Or points to a section that does that.

I may be a slow learner or intellectually challenged or whatever but
it would be a cold day before I got much meaning out of those lines.

I'll submit a small patch when I get my new install squared away a
little.