incorrect problem resolution
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
aptitude (Ubuntu) |
New
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned |
Bug Description
Binary package hint: aptitude
Aptitude will incorrectly handle the following situation. Let's say I have package A and package A-extensions installed. Package A recommends package A-extensions. Package A-extensions always depends on the same version of A as itself. Currently, both A and A-extensions are at version 1.1. The upstream repo has 1.2 of A, but is still at 1.1 of A-extensions.
If there are other packages to be updated, aptitude will (correctly IMHO) suggest to hold both A and A-extensions at 1.1. That is fine. If there are no other packages to be updated (after all other packages have been updated), aptitude's only automatic solution is to remove A-extensions. That is definitely wrong, since keeping both packages at the installed version resolves the problem just fine. IMHO, this is also preferred over needlessly removing a package.
speaking in more general terms, aptitude generally fails to accept "keep everything as it is" when there are currently no unresolved conflicts but updates introduce irreconcilable conflicts. Aptitude will not present "hold all packages" as a solution.