Re: Strange things going on in Sid
On Wed, 8 May 2013 14:26:20 -0500
"Mark Allums" <mark@allums.com> wrote:
> Re: Strange things going on in Sid
> >
> > On Wed, 08 May 2013 11:30:20 -0400
> > Frank McCormick <debianlist@videotron.ca> wrote:
> >
> > > After fixing a networking problem this morning, I attempted to
> > > update my Sid system.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I am dumbfounded at the number of packages apt wants to remove,
> > > including things like gedit and rhythmbox !
> > > I have always run a unstable system but never had anything like
> > > this before?
> > >
> > > What is going on here ?
> > >
> > >
> > Bob has given a detailed answer, but yes, both Unstable and the new
> > Testing are currently living in interesting times, and I do think
> > the tsunami was a little higher this time than usual. I was given an
> > unbootable kernel two days ago, and one of the dependencies for the
> > headers didn't exist in sid. It does now, but I'll wait a while...
> >
> > I've done what I usually do in times of trouble and switched to
> > Synaptic, which I find easier to use to maintain a working system
> > and clear logjams. I'll go back to aptitude when the dust settles a
> > bit.
>
>
> This is why people should wait six months before switching to jessie,
> and why sid is only for the experienced, the hard core, and those who
> don't mind serious breakage leading to reinstalls. I was bitten by
> the bad kernel, and as a side effect, it rendered X unusable as
> well. No matter what kernel I chose to boot, and I had several to
> choose from, X was toast. It was not a configuration issue, or a
> mismatched kernel module. I never tried seriously to solve it, I
> used it as an excuse to build a new machine. I have my data, and
> that's all I care about. (Wheezy runs quite well on fairly recent
> hardware, and installing on a non-locked UEFI system works well
> enough.)
My last kernel booted OK, and I pulled the offending 3.8. It was not
offered again next time, and I'm not sure why it was offered the first
time, as a change of kernel series is normally a manual matter. As far
as I can see, I have no metapackage which would prefer 3.8 over 3.2.
Waiting a while solves most sid problems, as long as it still boots. I
have twice had to reinstall when it got broken beyond my abilities to
fix, once with a nasty perl dependency loop and once because of the
wretched grub. I do keep an up-to-date backup of /etc, and a saved
--get-selections, and I don't keep any important data on the machine. I
don't clean the cache too often, either.
>
> BTW, I find that aptitude is useful only in interactive mode. In
> command mode, it is far too aggressive. I occasionally use
> safe-upgrade, though.
>
Almost always, safe-upgrade is enough, and full-upgrade tells you what
it proposes. Sometimes I ignore all the offered solutions, sometimes it
is possible to fix the problem by upgrading one or two things at a time
in a certain order, and I find Synaptic useful then.
--
Joe
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