Please translate "dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a'" message

[Lucas Cardoso]

The message "dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a'" that pops up every time a user who has unknowingly interrupted dpkg tries to use apt is probably one of the most frequently asked questions in the newbie forums of non-English-speaking communities. I know at least that this is the most frequently asked question in the Argentina LoCo forums and mailing list.

So, is there any way to translate this error message? I know apt has a Spanish version, so how hard could it be to translate this? I can offer you a more than adequate Spanish translation:

E: dpkg fue interrumpido, deberá correr 'dpkg --configure -a' manualmente para corregir el problema.

In fact, I also suggest adding sudo to the command, at least in the Ubuntu package.

[Leonardo Gastón De Luca (leorockway)]

Some time ago in ubuntu.es they half jokingly decided to run a poll about this. The question was "What would you do if you got the 'dpkg --configure -a' error?" A lot of people __really__ didn't know what to do in case they got this error.

I know it's not too hard to find out what the error means, but I also think that having Ubuntu (and this error in particular) localized would make life easier for a a lot of people. Googling errors only because they are in English shouldn't be the way to solve this kind of issues.

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

This message comes from apt, not dpkg (and is indeed not marked as translatable).

[Gabor Kelemen (kelemeng)]

Could an ubuntu-main-sponsor review my patch?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package apt - 0.7.20.2ubuntu1

---------------
apt (0.7.20.2ubuntu1) jaunty; urgency=low

  [ Christian Perrier ]
  * Translations:
    - bg.po. Closes: #513211
    - zh_TW.po. Closes: #513311
    - nb.po. Closes: #513843

  [ Michael Vogt ]
  * merged from the debian-sid branch
  * [ABI break] merge support for http redirects, thanks to
    Jeff Licquia and Anthony Towns
  * [ABI break] use int for the package IDs (thanks to Steve Cotton)
  * apt-pkg/contrib/strutl.cc:
    - fix TimeToStr i18n (LP: #289807)
  * debian/apt.conf.autoremove:
    - readd "linux-image" (and friends) to the auto-remove
     blacklist
  * fix some i18n issues (thanks to Gabor Kelemen)
    LP: #263089
  * apt-pkg/deb/dpkgpm.cc:
    - filter "ENOMEM" errors when creating apport reports
  * cmdline/apt-get.cc:
    - fix "apt-get source pkg=ver" if binary name != source name
      (LP: #202219)
  * apt-pkg/indexrecords.cc:
    - fix some i18n issues
  * apt-pkg/contrib/strutl.h:
    - add new strprintf() function to make i18n strings easier
  * apt-pkg/dev/debsystem.cc:
    - add missing apti18n.h header
  * cmdline/apt-get.cc:
    - default to "false" for the "APT::Get::Build-Dep-Automatic"
      option (follow debian here)
  * apt-pkg/pkgcache.cc:
    - do not run "dpkg --configure pkg" if pkg is in trigger-awaited
      state (LP: #322955)
  * methods/https.cc:
    - add Acquire::https::AllowRedirect support
    - do not unlink files in partial/ (thanks to robbiew)

  [ Dereck Wonnacott ]
  * Clarify the --help for 'purge' (LP: #243948)

  [ Ian Weisser ]
  * /apt-pkg/deb/debsystem.cc:
    - add 'sudo' to the error message to "run 'dpkg --configure -a'"
      (LP: #52697)

 -- Michael Vogt <email address hidden> Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:21:05 +0100