Re: Wheezy to Jessie update problem: packages with bugs

[Bill Harris <bill_harris@facilitatedsystems.com>]

Gary Dale <garydale@torfree.net> writes:

> On 04/07/16 03:23 PM, Bill Harris wrote:

>>> The simplest solution would be to reinstall the offending
>>> packages. Apt-get doesn't have that option but aptitude does. I can't
>>> try this at home but it may resolve the conflicts. Install aptitude
>>> and give it a try.
>>
>> Gary,
>>
>> I like simple.  To be clear, is this the sequence you're proposing?
>>
>> - Now that I've deleted backports from my sources.list, run `aptitude
>>    install emacs24` and so forth through the list.
>>
>> - Then run `apt-get dist-upgrade`.
>>
>> - Reboot into Jessie.
>>
>> The alternative seems to be
>>
>> - Run `apt-get dist-upgrade`.
>>
>> - Run `aptitude install emacs24` and so forth through the list.
>>
>> - Reboot into Jessie.
>>
>> The first sounds correct, but this isn't fully a Jessie system yet, and
>> I'd be reinstalling packages that only came with dist-upgrade.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Bill
>>
> Not even close. I was suggesting installing aptitude then use the
> reinstall option to reinstall the packages.

I think I'm not understanding.  I'll try to be clearer on my end to see
if that helps:

- I do have aptitude, so I don't have to install it.  In fact, I usually
  use aptitude, but the release notes for Wheezy
  (https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/amd64/release-notes/ch-upgrading.en.html#upgradingpackages)
  suggested using apt-get for this upgrade to reduce the chance of
  problems.

- I have yet to do the `apt dist-upgrade` (I downloaded all the packages
  and then quit), so I've got to do that at some time.

- My question was whether I

  - reinstall the packages first, and then do the dist-upgrade later, or

  - do the dist-upgrade first, and then reinstall the packages later.

  - I am guessing that I should reinstall the packages first.

- No matter which order I use, it sounds like I have at least two
  choices for the reinstall:

  - `apt-get install <package> --reinstall`

    Thanks; I had guessed the --reinstall would come before install.

      Not that it matters, but, from a bit of reading, it sounds as if
      `apt-get install <package>/wheezy` might work, too.  

  - `aptitude reinstall <package>`

    Which is, in a way, cleaner, although I seem to recall cautions
    about mixing apt-get and aptitude, and this would be mixing them
    closely.  (Yes, I know I'll be mixing them anyway, if I go back to
    aptitude once Wheezy is fully installed.

Thanks to you and Cindy for your help.

Does that clarify my remaining confusion?  

Bill