Please allow '#' comments in /etc/apt/preferences

[RichardNeill]

If I comment out the entries in /etc/apt/preferences, it then completely breaks apt.

# cat /etc/apt/preferences
    #Package: wine
    #Pin: version 20041201-1
    #Pin-Priority: 1001

# apt-get upgrade
E: Invalid record in the preferences file, no Package header.

Apt really shouldn't fail catastrophically just because one of its files contains a comment!

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

that has nothing to do with gnome-desktop which is about GNOME dialog and a library

[RichardNeill (ubuntu-richardneill)]

D'Oh. I think I forgot to change that entry, and it remained set to the value I had in the previous bug (which I filed a few minutes earlier.) Launchpad is trying to help me by using a session-variable to store the package name and pre-fill it in the next bug. Oops.

[Max Bowsher (maxb)]

Richard,

What constitutes a comment varies from file-format to file-format. The APT preferences file format does not have any syntax for comments. It does allow lines beginning "Explanation: " followed by freeform text, but only immediately preceding a "Package: " line, so they aren't really comments, really.

It's not unreasonable for APT to complain loudly if one of its config files contains a syntax error, which #-marks are in this context.

[Paul Dufresne (paulduf)]

I have verified that Max's explanation is right by reading 'man apt_preferences'.

Confirming bug.
Could be considered invalid, but could also be interpreted as a wish to have line beginning by # to be ignored.
Up to a developer to decide.

[RichardNeill (ubuntu-richardneill)]

Fair point.

I do hope this gets added - It would be a reasonable assumption that the same syntax (eg # for comments) used by the rest of apt (eg sources.list) should apply here.

[Max Bowsher (maxb)]

Upstream bugwatch added on preexisting upstream bug. Retitled with title from upstream bug.