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Re: What Package?



(Quoting fixed.)

On 2016-04-10 at 18:54, Harris Paltrowitz wrote:

> On Apr 10, 2016, at 11:56 AM, Curt <curty@free.fr> wrote:
> 
>> Those that do still use it (Flash) should upgrade to the newest
>> version (which I believe is 11.2.202.616) as they've recently fixed
>> some critical vulnerabilities (on 4-7-2016).
> 
> Any idea whether the package "flashplugin-nonfree" is being updated
> in the same way?"

The package itself is just a downloader+installer, with a few associated
utility programs. It doesn't always get updated when the plugin it
downloads does, but you can trigger the download yourself.

To check whether a new version is available upstream, run:
update-flashplugin-nonfree --status

To initiate an update attempt, run:
update-flashplugin-nonfree --install

Both commands will only work as root. (You can get the 'status' command
to work as an ordinary user with fakeroot and the full path, but that's
a bit more complicated.)

Unfortunately, however, just because the 'status' command shows a new
version as being available that doesn't mean the 'install' command will
necessarily pick it up. The 'install' process checks the upstream binary
against a validation list available on the package maintainer's personal
Debian Webspace, and if it doesn't find a match, it doesn't download or
install the new version. (This rather surprised me, the first time I
encountered it.)

In my experience, the new version will become installable via this
procedure within a week or so after it gets released. There's no visible
indication of when this has happened that I know of; you just have to
keep retrying the 'install' command until it goes through.

Anyone interested in exactly how this works is encouraged to examine the
update-flashplugin-nonfree executable; it's a standard shell script,
although a somewhat involved one.

-- 
   The Wanderer

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all
progress depends on the unreasonable man.         -- George Bernard Shaw

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