Bug#266551: [apt-get] --download-only option is unintuitive to use

[Jari Aalto <jari.aalto@poboxes.com>]

Package: apt
Version: 0.5.27
Severity: normal

Want to peek a package.deb, but it's no longer in apt's cache.
You decide to downlad the package:

  apt-get -d install package.deb

Apt starts, processes, and tells

  0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 3 not upgraded.
  1 not fully installed or removed.
  Need to get 0B of archives.

Hm, that was quick. Let's peek /var/cache/apt/archives. No? Not there?

PROPOSAL

  If user requested --download-only option to get the package to disk,
  it is unintuitive to have to be forced to add yet another otpion
  --reinstall to have the actual download to start.

  Apt could check if package is no longer in cache and fetch it
  as necessary. User expects option --download-only to mean "request to
  get the package to _disk_ (whatever means necessary)". 

-- Package-specific info:

-- System Information:
Debian Release: 3.1
  APT prefers unstable
  APT policy: (500, 'unstable'), (1, 'experimental')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Kernel: Linux 2.4.26.20040601
Locale: LANG=en_US, LC_CTYPE=en_US (ignored: LC_ALL set to en_US)

Versions of packages apt depends on:
ii  libc6                       2.3.2.ds1-16 GNU C Library: Shared libraries an
ii  libgcc1                     1:3.4.1-5    GCC support library
ii  libstdc++5                  1:3.3.4-9    The GNU Standard C++ Library v3

-- no debconf information