Re: installation of a package requests removal of a lot of packages

[antgel <antony@antgel.co.uk>]

Adam Funk wrote:
> antgel wrote:
> 
> 
>>Firstly, you should use aptitude instead of apt-get, which is not a
>>proper package manager.  This has been pointed out numerous times over
>>the years, and perhaps it should be more apparent in the Debian docs.
> 
> 
> Is it possible or practical to revert from aptitude to apt-get if the user
> doesn't like aptitude?

Yes.

>>Secondly, if you are using unstable, you should know how to deal with
>>this stuff.
> 
> 
> I've been using testing and unstable for a couple of years and I still have
> problems with this.  What is the correct way to deal with this?

The correct way to deal with it is to get to the bottom of the
dependency conflict.  :)  I find that the easiest way is to load
aptitude interactively (i.e. no command line arguments), hit g to
upgrade, at which point you get the list of packages being removed.
Scrolling through them, you should see the reasons for removal in the
bottom pane.  Then continue to sniff until you reach the offending
package(s).  At this point you can decide what to do.  Every case is
different.