On Thu, Dec 09, 2004 at 09:40:04PM +0000, Alexander Pohl wrote: > hello, > > the dpkg package manager doesn't give a package description for > uninstalled packages. A sample output of dpkg -l '*mysql*' is given below: > > 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 dbf2mysql 1.14a-3 xBase <--> MySQL > un gda2-mysql <none> (no description > available) Some packages I have are marked "un" others "pn": pn gda2-mysql <geen> (geen beschrijving beschikbaar) un mysql <geen> (geen beschrijving beschikbaar) (Ignore the Dutch part.) 'p' stands for purge, 'u' for unknown. For the ones marked 'p' I can get info with `apt-cache show', for the others not. That's probably because the purged packages have once been installed on my system so I still have some info on them. So: apt-cache show gda2-mysql gives info and apt-cache show mysql gives nothing. In both cases I can't get info about them with the plain dpkg. > I'm using a freshly installed and up to date version of Debian Sarge. In > Woody uninstalled packages had a description for installed as well as > uninstalled packages by default. I would like to get the descriptions > back as it is really bad when you don't see the description of a package > that you might want to install. The above info I mentioned is for Sarge. Now I `chrooted' to a woody installation. It was exactly the same there. `dpkg -l' gave no info, apt-cache gave info on purged packages only. -- Maurits van Rees | http://maurits.vanrees.org/ [Dutch/Nederlands] Public GnuPG key: keyserver.net ID 0x1735C5C2 "Let your advance worrying become advance thinking and planning." - Winston Churchill
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