Re: What happens when a bad package is in Debian stable?
On Sat, 03 Jan 2015, Bob Proulx wrote:
> > What if the new version cannot be fixed? Is the new version of the
> > package simply removed? Is an even newer version added that actually
> > matches the previous working version until bad one can be fixed and
> > added again?
>
> Since a release has been made it cannot ever be removed from that
> release. Once something is done it cannot be undone. It may be
> removed in a later point release. That will not remove it from your
> system however.
As you wrote, usually the package is just removed in the next opportunity, a
notice is posted, and it is up to the user to remove it from his system.
Some (all?) package managers can track such packages that are not any longer
in a repository. aptitude will show them as "local packages", for example.
However, for extreme hazards, we upload a fixup (possibly "empty") package
that does whatever is required to defuse the bomb, even if it means directly
editing things in the dpkg scripts database. This is very very rare,
though. I cannot recall any specific instance.
--
"One disk to rule them all, One disk to find them. One disk to bring
them all and in the darkness grind them. In the Land of Redmond
where the shadows lie." -- The Silicon Valley Tarot
Henrique Holschuh
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