Comment 6 for bug 149836

On Monday, October 8, 2007 1:48:52 pm EagleScreen wrote:
> One problem is that linux-image-2.6.22-12-generic and
> linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.22-12-generic packages has been disapeared from
> repositories, and if someone has cleaned package, he cannot install them
> again. It is not possible purge it unless someone create manually a fake
> file /boot/System.map-2.6.22-12-generic, and create manually folder
> /lib/modules/2.6.22-12-generic.
good point and a good work around.

> Aptitude has a big failure, sometimes mark for autoremoval many packages
> that was installed by other package managers
Not exactly. Aptitude doesn't "autoremove" anything. In command-line mode,
aptitude holds the packages, but tells the user about them. In full screen
mode, aptitude marks for removal packages that don't have dependencies set
correctly in the database and presents the list to the user before doing
anything.

The behavior you allude to is not a failure, it's what should happen upon
migration to aptitude and it's yet another reason to use aptitude.

Aptitude keeps kruft out of the installed package list, something apt-get
doesn't do. If the machine always uses aptitude, the issue never arises
because aptitude doesn't allow kruft to accumulate.

If you've used apt-get and/or dpkg extensively, you will inevitably have
accumulated kruft because apt-get doesn't keep track of the installed
packages very well. By default, aptitude dutifully tries to clean up after
her older sister apt-get. So it presents a list of packages that don't have
the proper dependencies specified in the database for possible removal.

It's easy to keep them all, of course. Simply navigate to heading at the top
of the list for removal and hit the plus (+) key.

If you _want_ to keep accumulating kruft and orphaned dependencies in the
manner of apt-get, you simply change the setting in aptitude (either in the
full screen mode menu or in the configuration file) and she will happily do
what you want.

Some folks have suggested keeping apt-get and installing deborphan to fix the
orphaned packages issue. However, that actually swings too far in the other
direction, because deborphan really does autoremove the packages and provides
much less information to the user.

>and uninstall without user wants do it.
Aptitude won't uninstall anything without the user's approval. It presents the
list and allows the user to decide.

Calling aptitude's intelligent dependency handling a "failure" and using that
as a reason to keep apt-get simply perpetuates a bad situation. We would all
be better off by deprecating apt-get as Debian has recommended and using
aptitude consistently from the beginning. Eventually, we will be forced to
anyway because apt-get will eventually be retired upstream.

Again, I refer the reader to Larry Garfield's article and the comments to it,
where this issue is fully discussed.
http://www.garfieldtech.com/blog/your-debian-aptitude

Happy Trails,

Loye Young
Isaac & Young Computer Company
Laredo, Texas
http://www.iycc.biz