Re: Function similar to {apt-cache recurse ...}?

[Richard Owlett <rowlett@cloud85.net>]

On 06/28/2019 08:58 AM, tomas@tuxteam.de wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 08:50:02AM -0500, David Wright wrote:
> > On Fri 28 Jun 2019 at 08:04:43 (-0500), Richard Owlett wrote:
> > > "apt-get install" will report the size of the new files to be
> > > installed when it asks for confirmation.
> > >
> > > I'm looking for something similar which will base its calculation
> > > *ONLY* on the contents of /var/lib/apt/lists/ {ignoring what is
> > > already on the current system}.
> >
> > I thought it already did; I posted this here six days ago:
> >
> >    Calculating upgrade... Done
> >    The following packages will be upgraded:
> >      …   …   …   …
> >    9 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
> >    Need to get 52.5 MB/52.5 MB of archives.
> >    After this operation, 74.8 kB of additional disk space will be used.
> >                          ↑↑↑↑↑↑↑    ↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑
> >    Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
> >
> > If that's not what you mean, ask your question again avoiding words
> > like "similar" and "based on".
>
> I read the OP's question as "the total installed size including
> dependencies" -- assuming none of those dependencies has been
> installed before (ex nihilo, so to speak).

Explicitly *YES*!
It's nice to have someone actually read what I write ;)

> While that question sounds reasonable, it is not -- do you count
> the base system, for exampla? That means "installed size" is
> /always/ relative to some "base installation".
>
> But perhaps my interpretation is wrong.

No. Perfectly correct.
I'm comparing possible approaches to a problem.
The "base install" is only loosely defined at this time.

> Cheers
> -- tomás