Goswin von Brederlow wrote:
I think those are always "partial" files until they have been verified. The placement might not mean it actualy is partial.
Either way, I see no reason for those files to exist. They're empty and all they do is make apt-get unable to download certain package lists while throwing confusing and misleading error messages in the user's face. Somehow apt-get update should remove all empty files in /var/lib/apt/lists/partial on cleanup, on startup, when it notices they're not needed anymore, or, best of all, not create them in the first place. Now I am not at all familiar with the apt source, and probably won't be able to produce a patch anytime soon, but I do recommend that this bug be rated more severely because it prevents users from getting certain package lists updated, thereby making it impossible for them to download security updates.