Hi.
Okay, I updated (sid). Here is how it was done, and how it went. Please consider the following (and please pardon the verbosity; I am used to distributions where people will give you a hard time for not providing "enough" information):
user@domain:~$ sudo aptitude -Pvv update
[sudo] password for user:
Fetched 368 kB in 3s (116 kB/s)
Current status: 0 (+0) broken, 10 (+8) upgradable, 58957 (-34) new.
There are 3 newly obsolete packages: linux-image-4.16.0-2-amd64, linux-image-4.17.0-1-amd64, linux-image-4.17.0-2-amd64
user@domain:~$ sudo aptitude -Pvv safe-upgrade
Resolving dependencies...
The following packages will be upgraded:
aspell-en libidn2-0 libnghttp2-14 libpython2.7 libpython2.7-minimal libpython2.7-stdlib python2.7
python2.7-minimal
The following packages will NOT be UPGRADED:
libsane-common{a} sane-utils{a}
8 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 2 not upgraded.
Need to get 5,452 kB of archives. After unpacking 136 kB will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] n
Abort.
user@domain:~$ sudo aptitude -Pvv full-upgrade
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libsane1{ab}
The following packages will be upgraded:
aspell-en libidn2-0 libnghttp2-14 libpython2.7 libpython2.7-minimal libpython2.7-stdlib
libsane-common python2.7 python2.7-minimal sane-utils
10 packages upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 8,480 kB of archives. After unpacking 8,568 kB will be used.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
libsane1 : Conflicts: libsane (< 1.0.27-1~) but 1.0.25-4.1 is installed
libsane : Depends: libsane-common (= 1.0.25-4.1) but 1.0.27-1 is to be installed
The following actions will resolve these dependencies:
Keep the following packages at their current version:
1) libsane-common [1.0.25-4.1 (now, unstable)]
2) libsane1 [Not Installed]
3) sane-utils [1.0.25-4.1 (now)]
Accept this solution? [Y/n/q/?] Y
The following packages will be upgraded:
aspell-en libidn2-0 libnghttp2-14 libpython2.7 libpython2.7-minimal libpython2.7-stdlib python2.7
python2.7-minimal
The following packages will NOT be UPGRADED:
libsane-common{a} sane-utils{a}
8 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 2 not upgraded.
Need to get 5,452 kB of archives. After unpacking 136 kB will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?]
Fetched 5,452 kB in 6s (851 kB/s)
Retrieving bug reports... Done
Parsing Found/Fixed information... Done
Reading changelogs... Done
(Reading database ... 204621 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../0-python2.7_2.7.15-4_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking python2.7 (2.7.15-4) over (2.7.15-3) ...
Preparing to unpack .../1-libpython2.7_2.7.15-4_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libpython2.7:amd64 (2.7.15-4) over (2.7.15-3) ...
Preparing to unpack .../2-libpython2.7-stdlib_2.7.15-4_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libpython2.7-stdlib:amd64 (2.7.15-4) over (2.7.15-3) ...
Preparing to unpack .../3-python2.7-minimal_2.7.15-4_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking python2.7-minimal (2.7.15-4) over (2.7.15-3) ...
Preparing to unpack .../4-libpython2.7-minimal_2.7.15-4_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libpython2.7-minimal:amd64 (2.7.15-4) over (2.7.15-3) ...
Preparing to unpack .../5-libidn2-0_2.0.5-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libidn2-0:amd64 (2.0.5-1) over (2.0.4-2.2) ...
Setting up libidn2-0:amd64 (2.0.5-1) ...
(Reading database ... 204643 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../aspell-en_2018.04.16-0-1_all.deb ...
Unpacking aspell-en (2018.04.16-0-1) over (2017.08.24-0-0.1) ...
Preparing to unpack .../libnghttp2-14_1.32.1-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libnghttp2-14:amd64 (1.32.1-1) over (1.32.0-1) ...
Setting up libnghttp2-14:amd64 (1.32.1-1) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.61) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.23-3) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.27-5) ...
Setting up aspell-en (2018.04.16-0-1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.8.4-2) ...
Setting up libpython2.7-minimal:amd64 (2.7.15-4) ...
Setting up libpython2.7-stdlib:amd64 (2.7.15-4) ...
Setting up python2.7-minimal (2.7.15-4) ...
Setting up python2.7 (2.7.15-4) ...
Setting up libpython2.7:amd64 (2.7.15-4) ...
Processing triggers for dictionaries-common (1.28.0) ...
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en-common].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en-variant_0].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en-variant_1].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en-variant_2].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en-w_accents-only].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en-wo_accents-only].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_AU-variant_0].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_AU-variant_1].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_AU-w_accents-only].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_AU-wo_accents-only].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_CA-variant_0].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_CA-variant_1].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_CA-w_accents-only].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_CA-wo_accents-only].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_GB-ise-w_accents-only].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_GB-ise-wo_accents-only].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_GB-ize-w_accents-only].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_GB-ize-wo_accents-only].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_GB-variant_0].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_GB-variant_1].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_US-w_accents-only].
aspell-autobuildhash: processing: en [en_US-wo_accents-only].
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.27-5) ...
Current status: 0 (+0) broken, 2 (-8) upgradable, 58957 (+0) new.
user@domain:~$ sudo aptitude -Pvv full-upgrade
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libsane1{ab}
The following packages will be upgraded:
libsane-common sane-utils
2 packages upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 3,027 kB of archives. After unpacking 8,432 kB will be used.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
libsane1 : Conflicts: libsane (< 1.0.27-1~) but 1.0.25-4.1 is installed
libsane : Depends: libsane-common (= 1.0.25-4.1) but 1.0.27-1 is to be installed
The following actions will resolve these dependencies:
Remove the following packages:
1) libsane [1.0.25-4.1 (now, unstable)]
Accept this solution? [Y/n/q/?] Y
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libsane1{a}
The following packages will be REMOVED:
libsane{a} libsane-extras{u} libsane-extras-common{u}
The following packages will be upgraded:
libsane-common sane-utils
2 packages upgraded, 1 newly installed, 3 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 3,027 kB of archives. After unpacking 1,954 kB will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] Y
Fetched 3,027 kB in 4s (824 kB/s)
Retrieving bug reports... Done
Parsing Found/Fixed information... Done
Reading changelogs... Done
Preconfiguring packages ...
dpkg: libsane:amd64: dependency problems, but removing anyway as you requested:
sane-utils depends on libsane (>= 1.0.24).
colord depends on libsane (>= 1.0.24).
simple-scan depends on libsane (>= 1.0.24); however:
Package libsane:amd64 is to be removed.
hplip depends on libsane (>= 1.0.24).
(Reading database ... 204642 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing libsane:amd64 (1.0.25-4.1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libsane1:amd64.
(Reading database ... 204369 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libsane1_1.0.27-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libsane1:amd64 (1.0.27-1) ...
dpkg: considering deconfiguration of sane-utils, which would be broken by installation of libsane-common ...
dpkg: yes, will deconfigure sane-utils (broken by libsane-common)
Preparing to unpack .../libsane-common_1.0.27-1_all.deb ...
De-configuring sane-utils (1.0.25-4.1) ...
Unpacking libsane-common (1.0.27-1) over (1.0.25-4.1) ...
Preparing to unpack .../sane-utils_1.0.27-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking sane-utils (1.0.27-1) over (1.0.25-4.1) ...
(Reading database ... 204475 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing libsane-extras:amd64 (1.0.22.6) ...
Removing libsane-extras-common (1.0.22.6) ...
Setting up libsane-common (1.0.27-1) ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/sane.d/canon_dr.conf ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/sane.d/cardscan.conf ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/sane.d/dll.conf ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/sane.d/epjitsu.conf ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/sane.d/epsonds.conf ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/sane.d/fujitsu.conf ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/sane.d/gt68xx.conf ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/sane.d/pieusb.conf ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/sane.d/pixma.conf ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/sane.d/xerox_mfp.conf ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.27-5) ...
Processing triggers for udev (239-7) ...
Processing triggers for systemd (239-7) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.8.4-2) ...
Setting up libsane1:amd64 (1.0.27-1) ...
Setting up sane-utils (1.0.27-1) ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/user/saned ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/saned ...
update-inetd: warning: cannot add service, /etc/inetd.conf does not exist
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.27-5) ...
Processing triggers for systemd (239-7) ...
Current status: 0 (+0) broken, 0 (-2) upgradable, 58957 (+0) new.
user@domain:~$ sudo aptitude -Pvv update
Current status: 0 (+0) broken, 0 (+0) upgradable, 58957 (+0) new.
user@domain:~$ sudo aptitude -Pvv full-upgrade
No packages will be installed, upgraded, or removed.
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B of archives. After unpacking 0 B will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?]
Current status: 0 (+0) broken, 0 (+0) upgradable, 58957 (+0) new.
user@domain:~$ ls /etc/inetd.conf
ls: cannot access '/etc/inetd.conf': No such file or directory
"9.6. The inetd Super-Server
Inetd (often called “Internet super-server”) is a server of servers. It executes rarely used servers on demand, so that they do not have to run continuously.
The /etc/inetd.conf file lists these servers and their usual ports. The inetd command listens to all of them; when it detects a connection to any such port, it executes the corresponding server program.
DEBIAN POLICY Register a server in inetd.conf
Packages frequently want to register a new server in the /etc/inetd.conf file, but Debian Policy prohibits any package from modifying a configuration file that it doesn't own. This is why the update-inetd script (in the package with the same name) was created: It manages the configuration file, and other packages can thus use it to register a new server to the super-server's configuration.
Each significant line of the /etc/inetd.conf file describes a server through seven fields (separated by spaces):
The TCP or UDP port number, or the service name (which is mapped to a standard port number with the information contained in the /etc/services file).
The socket type: stream for a TCP connection, dgram for UDP datagrams.
The protocol: tcp or udp.
The options: two possible values: wait or nowait, to tell inetd whether it should wait or not for the end of the launched process before accepting another connection. For TCP connections, easily multiplexable, you can usually use nowait. For programs responding over UDP, you should use nowait only if the server is capable of managing several connections in parallel. You can suffix this field with a period, followed by the maximum number of connections authorized per minute (the default limit is 256).
The user name of the user under whose identity the server will run.
The full path to the server program to execute.
The arguments: this is a complete list of the program's arguments, including its own name (argv[0] in C).
The following example illustrates the most common cases:
Example 9.1. Excerpt from /etc/inetd.conf
talk dgram udp wait nobody.tty /usr/sbin/in.talkd in.talkd
finger stream tcp nowait nobody /usr/sbin/tcpd in.fingerd
ident stream tcp nowait nobody /usr/sbin/identd identd -i
The tcpd program is frequently used in the /etc/inetd.conf file. It allows limiting incoming connections by applying access control rules, documented in the hosts_access(5) manual page, and which are configured in the /etc/hosts.allow and /etc/hosts.deny files. Once it has been determined that the connection is authorized, tcpd executes the real server (like in.fingerd in our example). It is worth noting that tcpd relies on the name under which it was invoked (that is the first argument, argv[0]) to identify the real program to run. So you should not start the arguments list with tcpd but with the program that must be wrapped.
COMMUNITY Wietse Venema
Wietse Venema, whose expertise in security has made him a renowned programmer, is the author of the tcpd program. He is also the main creator of Postfix, the modular e-mail server (SMTP, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), designed to be safer and more reliable than sendmail, which features a long history of security vulnerabilities.
ALTERNATIVE Other inetd commands
While Debian installs openbsd-inetd by default, there is no lack of alternatives: we can mention inetutils-inetd, micro-inetd, rlinetd and xinetd.
This last incarnation of a super-server offers very interesting possibilities. Most notably, its configuration can be split into several files (stored, of course, in the /etc/xinetd.d/ directory), which can make an administrator's life easier.
Last but not least, it is even possible to emulate inetd's behaviour with systemd's socket-activation mechanism (see Section 9.1.1, “The systemd init system”)."
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So! Since I do not know inetd, and apparently it does not "auto-configure" (well it sure did during original installation!) I do not know what to do, other than a complete teardown and re-installation.
Maybe I should have just always used sudo aptitude safe-upgrade . . .