Dependency Problem

[Nick Sarten]

Binary package hint: software-center

This isn't so much a bug with software center as the software repositories themselves, but software center is doing some weird stuff too, so i thought i'd tag it anyway.

All the info about my OS and package versions should be in the attached reports (9.10 beta, latest packages as at the time of this post).

I opened the ubuntu software center to install AWN (Avant Window Navigator). First i did a search using the search bar and found "AWN Manager", only one item (screenshot awn_manager.png), and installed it. I try to access AWN properties (from the system->preferences menu) and i get an error (fatal).

Later, while browsing the software center i found another package called "Avant Window Navigator". Installing this fixed the errors with AWN.

What i find perplexing is that there are two packages for this in the software center, and even more perplexing is that only one shows up when i search "awn", even though they both contain awn in the title/description. If i search "avant" they both come up.
The packages need to be merged or "AWN Manager" needs to be removed (and Avant Window Navigator should show up for a search of "awn".

Another option is to set "Avant Window Navigator" as a dependency of AWN manager.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Sat Oct 10 18:57:34 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
Package: software-center 0.5.0
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_NZ.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-13.43-generic
SourcePackage: software-center
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-13-generic i686
XsessionErrors:
 (gnome-settings-daemon:1547): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_propagate_error: assertion `src != NULL' failed
 (polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1:1652): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_once_init_leave: assertion `initialization_value != 0' failed
 (nautilus:1643): Eel-CRITICAL **: eel_preferences_get_boolean: assertion `preferences_is_initialized ()' failed
 (gnome-panel:1642): Gtk-WARNING **: gtk_widget_size_allocate(): attempt to allocate widget with width -1 and height 24

[Nick Sarten (gen-battle)]

Added AWN Manager screenshot

[Nick Sarten (gen-battle)]

Added screenshot of Avant Window Navigator

[Andrew (and471)]

This is about awn-manager not having the correct dependencies, nothing to do with software-center

Re-assigning

[Julien Lavergne (gilir)]

Hi Adrew,

Thanks for your bug report.

What to do you mean by "awn-manager not having correct dependencies" ? For now, awn-manager is a depends of avant-window-navigator. I think the problem you see is that Awn have 2 desktop files, one for Awn, the other of Awn-manager. The 2 desktop files are shown on software center.

I don't see any thing to be fixed on Awn side, please detail the fix you want for this package.

[Nick Sarten (gen-battle)]

I would like to see the packages merged in software center, even if you keep them separate in synaptic. Or at least make it so that if you install AWN-Manager you have to install AWN as a dependancy; AWN Manager doesn't work without AWN installed.

I don't really get what the difference between AWN-Manager and AWN are, i thought AWN includes its own settings window by default?

Personally i would recommend merging the two packages, the current jaunty Add/Remove application only has the "Avant Window Navigator" package available, which i believe is how this application should be presented in the Software Center.

[Nick Sarten (gen-battle)]

I just noticed in your comment there is a dependency from AWN to AWN-Manager, but i think the dependency needs to reciprocated; i can currently install awn-manager without installing awn, causing awn-manager to throw an error when i try and open it.

I don't see why there needs to be a separate package for these two items because of their interdependencies, i can't see why you would want to install one without the other. As i said, you should at least make them both dependent on each other (they currently aren't)

[Julien Lavergne (gilir)]

Le samedi 10 octobre 2009 à 19:14 +0000, GenBattle a écrit :
> I don't see why there needs to be a separate package for these two items
> because of their interdependencies, i can't see why you would want to
> install one without the other. As i said, you should at least make them
> both dependent on each other (they currently aren't)
>
Firstly because circuled depends are bad. Secondly because awn is
written in C, and awn-manager in python, 2 separate packages are needed.
And I'm sure I can find other arguments.

There was always 2 separate packages. If gnome-app-install handle it
right and software-center not, so it's a bug in software-center. IMO,
awn-manager shouldn't be in software-center.

[Nick Sarten (gen-battle)]

Well see that's what i thought. But according to the software-center guys it's not their problem. I think it's due to the fact that software center tries to be add/remove and synaptic in one. So basically awn-manager needs to be removed from software-center. Isn't this a packaging problem again though? or are there not sufficient control in software center to do this?

[Nick Sarten (gen-battle)]

Can we get the opinion of someone on the software-center project as to why this problem is happening, if the dependencies are indeed correct as Julien has said?

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

I believe its already fixed in Lucid? should we close this bug

[Julien Lavergne (gilir)]

It was "fixed" by adding the mention of "Awn" in the avant-window-navigator description in debian/control.