Bug#58859: meta-errors
Package: dpkg,apt
Version: n/a
Severity: wishlist
I know this is one of those really annoying bugs to recieve, so I wouldn't
be submitting it, except I see it causing user headaches OVER and OVER and
OVER, and [insert witty comment about Jason Gunthorpe here].
Both dpkg and apt print out meta-errors, i.e. reports of other errors.
Users paste these into channels regularly, and although they do a good job
of letting the user know that it's not working, they don't tell them how to
fix it. (make is the worst offender - make: *** [install] Error 1 gets
pasted more places...)
Neither dpkg nor apt actually tell you what to do to fix a problem like this
(besides wait until some developer fixes the package). They have to consult
a Debian Expert(tm) who has to pry info from them like which script was
failing, then said Debian Expert(tm) has to refer them to
/var/lib/dpkg/info/packagename.scriptname (scriptname doesn't directly
correlate with dpkg's error messages either!), and only *then* can work
start on determining what the problem really was (this can be three emails
into a bug report, if the user chose that route), and by this time a newbie
can really start hating Debian.
Addressing this issue will improve the quality of a significant percentage
of bug reports.
<SuperPhly> anyone ahve any clue...
<SuperPhly> dpkg: error processing xdm (--configure):
<SuperPhly> subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
> superphly: did it print out an error *above* that?
--
Robert Woodcock - rcw@debian.org
"Anybody else wanna negotiate?" -- The Fifth Element
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