library packages exist in a state of quantum superposition

[Steve Langasek]

When I run 'sudo apt-get dist-upgrade', I see this:

The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libcrystalhd3 libfaac0 libva-glx1
The following packages have been kept back:
  mythtv-common mythtv-frontend
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 2 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/103 kB of archives.
After this operation, 307 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]?

If I install the packages and then run 'apt-get autoremove --purge', I see this:

The following packages will be REMOVED:
  libcrystalhd3* libfaac0* libva-glx1*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 3 to remove and 2 not upgraded.
After this operation, 307 kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]?

These libraries appear to be dependencies of the new libmyth-0.25-0 library package. mythtv is on hold here because there's no stable protocol, so client and server versions have to be kept in sync. Not sure why apt is trying to install the dependencies anyway.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: apt 0.8.16~exp12ubuntu5
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-17.27-generic 3.2.6
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-17-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 1.94.1-0ubuntu2
Architecture: amd64
CheckboxSubmission: 017452a27eca3c8b498abbfa5ef91db9
CheckboxSystem: ecaaad6fa1e0799a0aa1126bf620f39e
Date: Mon Mar 12 12:31:35 2012
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100816.1)
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: apt
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to precise on 2011-11-08 (124 days ago)

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

$ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade -o Debug::pkgProblemResolver=true
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Starting
Starting 2
Investigating (0) libmyth-0.25-0 [ amd64 ] < none -> 2:0.25.0~master.20120305.6519666-0ubuntu1 > ( multiverse/libs )
Broken libmyth-0.25-0:amd64 Conflicts on libmyth-0.23-0 [ amd64 ] < 0.23.1+fixes26437-0ubuntu1 > ( libs )
  Considering libmyth-0.23-0:amd64 0 as a solution to libmyth-0.25-0:amd64 1
  Added libmyth-0.23-0:amd64 to the remove list
  Fixing libmyth-0.25-0:amd64 via remove of libmyth-0.23-0:amd64
Investigating (1) mythtv-frontend [ amd64 ] < 0.23.1+fixes26437-0ubuntu1 -> 2:0.25.0~master.20120305.6519666-0ubuntu1 > ( multiverse/graphics )
Broken mythtv-frontend:amd64 Depends on libmyth-0.23-0 [ amd64 ] < 0.23.1+fixes26437-0ubuntu1 > ( libs ) (>= 0.23.1+fixes26437)
  Considering libmyth-0.23-0:amd64 0 as a solution to mythtv-frontend:amd64 10000
  Added libmyth-0.23-0:amd64 to the remove list
  Fixing mythtv-frontend:amd64 via keep of libmyth-0.23-0:amd64
Investigating (1) libmyth-0.25-0 [ amd64 ] < none -> 2:0.25.0~master.20120305.6519666-0ubuntu1 > ( multiverse/libs )
Broken libmyth-0.25-0:amd64 Conflicts on libmyth-0.23-0 [ amd64 ] < 0.23.1+fixes26437-0ubuntu1 > ( libs )
  Considering libmyth-0.23-0:amd64 0 as a solution to libmyth-0.25-0:amd64 1
  Added libmyth-0.23-0:amd64 to the remove list
  Fixing libmyth-0.25-0:amd64 via remove of libmyth-0.23-0:amd64
Investigating (2) mythtv-frontend [ amd64 ] < 0.23.1+fixes26437-0ubuntu1 -> 2:0.25.0~master.20120305.6519666-0ubuntu1 > ( multiverse/graphics )
Broken mythtv-frontend:amd64 Depends on libmyth-0.23-0 [ amd64 ] < 0.23.1+fixes26437-0ubuntu1 > ( libs ) (>= 0.23.1+fixes26437)
  Considering libmyth-0.23-0:amd64 0 as a solution to mythtv-frontend:amd64 10000
  Added libmyth-0.23-0:amd64 to the remove list
  Fixing mythtv-frontend:amd64 via keep of libmyth-0.23-0:amd64
Investigating (2) libmyth-0.25-0 [ amd64 ] < none -> 2:0.25.0~master.20120305.6519666-0ubuntu1 > ( multiverse/libs )
Broken libmyth-0.25-0:amd64 Conflicts on libmyth-0.23-0 [ amd64 ] < 0.23.1+fixes26437-0ubuntu1 > ( libs )
  Considering libmyth-0.23-0:amd64 10000 as a solution to libmyth-0.25-0:amd64 1
  Holding Back libmyth-0.25-0:amd64 rather than change libmyth-0.23-0:amd64
Investigating (3) mythtv-common [ amd64 ] < 0.23.1+fixes26437-0ubuntu1 -> 2:0.25.0~master.20120305.6519666-0ubuntu1 > ( multiverse/graphics )
Broken mythtv-common:amd64 Depends on libmyth-0.25-0 [ amd64 ] < none -> 2:0.25.0~master.20120305.6519666-0ubuntu1 > ( multiverse/libs ) (>= 2:0.25.0~master.20120305.6519666)
  Considering libmyth-0.25-0:amd64 1 as a solution to mythtv-common:amd64 1
  Holding Back mythtv-common:amd64 rather than change libmyth-0.25-0:amd64
 Try to Re-Instate (4) mythtv-common:amd64
Done
Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libcrystalhd3 libfaac0 libva-glx1
The following packages have been kept back:
  mythtv-common mythtv-frontend
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 2 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/103 kB of archives.
After this operation, 307 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to ...