Comment 6 for bug 152325

This bug is still biting me -- after a recent update, to kdebase-data 4:3.5.8-0ubuntu2.1l from gutsy-updates, this occurred again. I discovered that /etc/xdg/menus/application-merged was a symlink to /etc/xdg/menus/kde-applications-merged/applications-merged . After removing this symlink, I still have the problem that 'aptitude reinstall' simply does not restore kde-essential.menu, but I found that this command line works:

sudo dpkg-deb -x /var/cache/apt/archives/kdebase-data_4%3a3.5.8-0ubuntu2.1_all.deb /

It may be that the problem will not recur after this, seeing as the symlink has been removed.