Re: Use of dpkg --set-selections is brain-dead?

["Mumia W." <mumia.w.18.spam+nospam@earthlink.net>]

On 08/30/2006 06:54 PM, Kevin Buhr wrote:
> "Michael S. Peek" <peek@tiem.utk.edu> writes:
> > I've traced my problem down to the use of 'dpkg --set-selections' 
> > command.  As an example, I have a package named tiem-nis-client-cfg 
> > that sets up NIS for generic workstations.  If I understand correctly, 
> > I should be able to do the following:
> >
> >    echo "tiem-nis-client-cfg      install" | dpkg --set-selections
> >
> > And then, when I type 'dpkg --get-selections', I should see 
> > "tiem-nis-client-cfg   install" one some line in the output.
>
> No, "dpkg --get-selections" without further arguments only lists 
> packages that are either installed or deinstalled (but still have 
> their config files on the system), not purged packages or those that 
> have never been on your system, even if those packages have been 
> selected for installation.  If you run:
>
>         dpkg --get-selections tiem-nis-client-cfg
>
> that should show that your new package has been selected for 
> installation.

The man-page for dpkg suggests that Michael's method should 
have worked:

> dpkg --set-selections
>        Set package selections using file read from stdin.

Notice that additional parameters are not required, and the 
input comes from stdin.

I'm using Sarge with dpkg 1.10.28.