apt should support a "steped" update

[Hervé Fache]

Binary package hint: apt

I recently had two groups of updates in Dapper:
- bind9 and dependencies
- openoffice

What happened:
  - stop bind
  - install new bind and dependencies
  - try to install openoffice and fail because some file changed package
  -> two unrelated packages are left in a bad state
  -> no internet access because DNS is down

What should have happened:
- deal with bind
  - stop bind
  - install new bind and dependencies
  - start bind
- deal with openoffice
  - try to install and fail because some file changed package
  -> only the offending package is left in a bad state

I had to re-enable the name service manually to run apt-get -f install and fix my system, wondering what that could break. I suppose the same might apply in other network-related updates.

[Sarah Kowalik (hobbsee-deactivatedaccount)]

this is an apt bug, not an adept one.

[Julian Andres Klode (juliank)]

That's a feature, not a bug. We do not want to configure packages at random times, but all at the end.