Bug#77129: Apt Doesn't Handle Disk Space Intelligently

[Ruchira Datta <datta@math.berkeley.edu>]

Package: apt
Version: 0.3.19

I have Debian 2.2.  When I tried to install 2.2r1 through
dselect (with the apt backend), it successfully downloaded all the
packages, but while installing them it failed and exited messily
because it had filled up the entire /var partition.  Apt should
be intelligent and not bite off more than it can chew.

I realize that not everyone has the same partitioning scheme.  
However, I think most packages install files in /usr, /var, /lib,
/etc, /bin, and /sbin.  (Maybe Debian policy dictates something
like this.)  I think it would be pretty unusual for someone to
split any of those directories across partitions, except maybe
/usr--there's /usr/local, but official packages don't install there
anyway.  I think the Installed-Size statistic should be broken
down into the portions in each of these directories, and apt
should calculate whether it has room before trying to download
and install packages.

Ruchira Datta
datta@math.berkeley.edu