Re: dselect recommends removing 1258 packages, base-files, libc6
On Tue, Nov 25, 2003 at 08:46:16PM -0500, Jameson C. Burt wrote:
> I am upgrading from potato to woody (in anticipation of sarge),
> having just upgraded my potato packages with the Debian potato
> archives, and with the potato security archives.
> I run dselect with the "apt" access method,
> I update the list of packages,
> and now I am in dselect's
> "2. [S]elect"
> I make no changes/selections, merely pressing "enter".
Presumeably you edited /etc/apt/sources.list to include woody before
you ran deselect. If you did, your apt system now is aware of many
newer versions of packages than the ones that are parts of potato.
> Dselect recommends removing or purging 1258 packages of 1459 installed
> packages, including numerous required packages like
> base-files
> base-passwd
> bash
> bsdutils
> debianutils
> dpkg
> fileutils
> libc6
>
These are the potato versions of the packages. They will have to be
removed as part of the upgrade. But there is *more*. As I recall,
you can't cleanly upgrade from potato to woody in one step. You
must first do an upgrade of at least one package that is part of the
apt/dpkg system. But, I don't remember which one. Search the list
archives in the date range around the time when woody was transitioned
to stable.
> Entering dselect's
> 2. [S]elect Request which packages you want on your system
> and immediately pressing "enter",
> or later after entering "U" (set all to sUggested state),
> I see the following first three lines for conflict resolution,
> lines which BAFFLE ME,
> **- Req base base-files Debian base system miscellaneous files
> **- Req base base-passwd Debian Base System Password/Group Files
> **- Req base bash The GNU Bourne Again SHell
> or, in verbose mode I see [excluding "Description"],
> Installed Old mark Marked for Priority Section Package
> --------- -------- ---------- ---------------- -------
> installed install remove Required base base-files
> installed install remove Required base base-passwd
> installed install remove Required base bash
>
> Clicking "R" (Revert to state before this list), I see the expected,
> *** Req base base-files Debian base system miscellaneous files
> *** Req base base-passwd Debian Base System Password/Group Files
> *** Req base bash The GNU Bourne Again SHell
>
> Following are the first few lines when I first enter dselect's
> "2. [S]elect", as expected,
> q All packages q
> qqq Updated packages (newer version is available) qqq
> qqqqq Updated Required packages qqqqq
> qqqqqqq Updated Required packages in section base qqqqqqq
> *** Req base base-files 2.2.0 3.0.2
> *** Req base base-passwd 3.1.10 3.4.1
> *** Req base bash 2.03-6 2.05a-11
>
> Following are corresponding lines from "dpkg -l", as expected,
> ii base-files 2.2.0 Debian base system miscellaneous files
> ii base-passwd 3.1.10 Debian Base System Password/Group Files
> ii bash 2.03-6 The GNU Bourne Again SHell
>
> The Release Notes for Woody,
> http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/release-notes/ch-upgrading.en.html
> said
> "The recommended method of upgrading is to use the apt method
> with dselect"
> Can anyone clarify why "dselect" recommends obliterating required packages?
>
>
> Two years ago, I upgraded other computers from potato to woody
> using instead apt-get.
> Then, with "apt-get dist-upgrade", I remember spending a couple
> days fumbling through upgrade problems,
> so I presume the Release Notes correctly recommend using "dselect".
>
> My current potato distribution has the following package versions,
> libc6 2.1.3-25
> bash 2.03-6
> perl-5.005 5.005.03-7.2
> perl-base 5.004.05-1.1
> debconf 0.2.80.17
> dpkg 1.6.15
> libncurses5 5.0-6.0potato2
> libstdc++2.10 2.95.2-13.1
>
> I have used Debian Linux since 1995, so I'm fairly well versed as a user
> in dselect, dpkg, and apt-get, but I am in "Potato Hole"
> with these "dselect" recommendations.
>
I think the method of upgrade recommended by the experts at the time of
woody release to stable was to use apt-get and *not* dselect. I would
find that discussion in the archives before you do any real damage.
On the upside, I think you can remove all deletion flags
from dselect by removing the woody lines from sources.list and doing
an update. Your dselect will no longer see the newer stuff as being
available and will revert to thinking that the potato stuff is the
latest available. If I were in your position I would do this before
I started work on following the upgrade directions that you find in
the archives. But this my be excessive caution.
> Should no one respond, I will return to using apt-get.
>
>
>
> --
> Jameson C. Burt, NJ9L Fairfax, Virginia, USA
> jameson@coost.com http://www.coost.com
> (202) 690-0380 (work)
>
> LTSP.org: magic "mysterious and awe-inspiring even though
> we know they are real and not supernatural"
--
Paul E Condon
pecondon@peakpeak.com
Reply to: