Re: aptitude synaptic gnome to be removed?

[Jules Dubois <0v63ukx02@sneakemail.com>]

On Saturday 02 July 2005 09:40, Bill Wohler <wohler@newt.com>
(<[🔎] 87slyxfc7b.fsf@olgas.newt.com>) wrote:

> Jules Dubois <0v63ukx02@sneakemail.com> writes:
> 
>> You're misinterpreting what 'dist-upgrade' does.
> 
> If I am, you haven't answered my original question ;-).

Your original statement implied it was it was not useful to use the
'dist-upgrade' command when you're not "upgrading" distributions.
My answer was:

  man apt-get
  man aptitude

Both of these man pages describe the difference between 'upgrade' and
'dist-upgrade'.

> Which is, Why would you want to use dist-upgrade when you're not switching
> distributions? I'm curious.

I feel like answering RTFM again, but you've been reasonable and polite. 
Thank you for your courtesy.

'apt-get upgrade' is restricted (and therefore safer) in that:

   under no circumstances are currently installed packages removed, or
   packages not already installed retrieved and installed.

This isn't sufficient for 'unstable', as both of the package-state changes
above are required regularly.  'aptitude upgrade' works slightly
differently but is still similarly limited.  So, instead of 'upgrade',
users of 'unstable' and 'testing' must use

  (1) 'dist-upgrade'; or, for "manual" upgrades,
  (2) 'install <package-name>'

for some package upgrades (or forego those upgrades if they so desire).

I think that 'stable' never requires it, except, as the name 'dist-upgrade'
suggests, in the case of of upgrading to a new release (such as from Woody
to Sarge) -- it's been several years since I ran 'stable' (Potato), and
perhaps I don't remember correctly.