Re: Should apt-get autoremove Gain Confirm for Packages Removal?
On 20140402_180526, Jeff Bai wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am not exactly using Debian but building another distribution with
> DPKG and APT as basic package management suite. But we just found that,
> when doing apt-get autoremove, there was not a warning or extra notice for
> removing packages which sometimes leads to a broken system...
>
> Well, I would really want to hear what you guys think...
>
> Jeff Bai from AOSC
Autoremove is an incomplete solution to a difficult problem, IMHO.
Think of dependencies among packages as a directed graph of
links(dependency) between nodes(packages). The data about this graph
is contained in the dependent packages in lists of callouts of
required services. In general, the graph is not rooted and not even
acyclic. It's basically difficult to grasp, much less solve. The
Debian approach works in the Debian environment, IMHO. But also, IMHO,
there are surely environments in which it would not work well at all.
Debian is open for inspection. You can learn about Debian's solution
by administering a Debian installation, which you probably have. Try
to break it by doing "stupid" things. See how it responds.
I recommend using Aptitude for this investigation because it gives you
immediate feedback at each step. The system will ask questions that
you had not anticipated having to answer. I have no doubt you will
quickly grasp what you need to do to keep a system running across
changes in configuration.
If this is something that you think your intended audience of users
can handle, adopt it, and give them Aptitude, and the other
user-friendly front ends. If not, make plans for an alternative
approach to system configuration.
HTH
--
Paul E Condon
pecondon@mesanetworks.net
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