package pootle 2.0.5-0.3 failed to install/upgrade: subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1

[Thomas Schwiertz]

pootle fails to install both in Ubuntu Software Center and through apt-get from the command line.

ProblemType: Package
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: pootle 2.0.5-0.3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-11.18-generic-pae 3.0.4
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-11-generic-pae i686
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu1
AptOrdering:
 pootle: Install
 pootle: Configure
Architecture: i386
Date: Fri Sep 16 18:10:14 2011
DuplicateSignature:
 Setting up pootle (2.0.5-0.3) ...
 dpkg: error processing pootle (--configure):
  subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
ErrorMessage: subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Beta i386 (20110830)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: pootle
Title: package pootle 2.0.5-0.3 failed to install/upgrade: subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to oneiric on 2011-09-13 (3 days ago)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[E+X (eplusx)]

I have also encountered this bug with Ubuntu 11.10. When I'm going to install Pootle with `apt-get install pootle`, `dpkg --configure` says: "Error: No modules named thread_support." I've never experienced this bug when I used Ubuntu 10.10.

It seems that this bug occurs because Pootle 2.0.5 is not compatible with Django 1.3.0, which are default versions of Ubuntu 11.10. In Ubuntu 10.10, Django 1.2.3 is installed by apt-get, and Pootle 2.0.5 seems to be able to work well with Django 1.2.x.

I think it is best if Pootle 2.1.0 or later can be installed via apt-get. Before this bug is resolved, I recommend you to install Pootle 2.1.6 manually along with APT packages on which pootle depends: python (>= 2.3), python-central (>= 0.6.11), translate-toolkit (>= 1.5.2), adduser, python-lxml, libjs-jquery, python-django-registration, python-django-djblets (copied from `apt-cache show pootle`).

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Below are what I did to investigate this bug:

First I found why this error is raised:

 # find / -name '*pootle*' 2>/dev/null | while read file; do grep -R 'thread_support' $file; done
 /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/pootle_store/fields.py:from django.utils.thread_support import currentThread
 /usr/share/pyshared/pootle_store/fields.py:from django.utils.thread_support import currentThread

As you can see, the error message implies that there is no module named django.utils.thread_support.

Identified what file serves as django.utils package:

 # echo 'import django.utils; print django.utils.__file__' | python
 /usr/lib/pymodules/python2.7/django/utils/__init__.pyc

Yes, there is no such file like /usr/lib/pymodules/python2.7/django/utils/thread_support.py. Of course /usr/lib/pymodules/python2.7/django/utils/__init__.py defines no class or variable named thread_support.

On the other hand, on Ubuntu 10.10 the thread_support module can be found at /usr/lib/pymodules/python2.6/django/utils/thread_support.py. I also found that Django 1.2.7 source code has thread_support.py but Django 1.3.0 and 1.3.1 doesn't.

Then I downloaded Pootle 2.1.6 and 2.1.0 source codes and inspect Pootle-2.1.x/local_apps/pootle_store/fields.py; there is no import requiring django.utils.thread_support. Finally I concluded this bug is a compatibility problem.

Similar cases are also found: http://www.google.com/search?q=pootle+thread_support+django+1.3