please replace dependency on ntpdate in ubuntu-minimal with ntp

Bug #61619 reported by Nafallo Bjälevik
68
This bug affects 11 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
ntp (Ubuntu)
Confirmed
Undecided
Unassigned
ubuntu-meta (Ubuntu)
Triaged
Medium
Unassigned

Bug Description

 Hi!

I think we might want to choose ntp-simple in some situations instead of ntpdate. Could we have that as an alternative Dependency?

Cheers, /C

Revision history for this message
Björn Torkelsson (torkel) wrote :

According to the ntp NEWS.Debian ntp nowdays does the initial time adjust by it self, so I would suggest that ntp replaces ntpdate in ubuntu-minimal. And perhaps add a conflict with ntpdate in the npt package. Having both om them installed at the same time just introduces at lot of confusion.

Revision history for this message
Nafallo Bjälevik (nafallo) wrote :

This is ntp now, so ntpdate | ntp please :-)

Changed in ubuntu-meta:
status: New → Triaged
importance: Undecided → Wishlist
Revision history for this message
Colin Watson (cjwatson) wrote :

Alternative dependencies aren't possible in ubuntu-meta's metapackages at this time. If somebody wants to attempt to define semantics for germinate in this area, you're very welcome to try; talk to me about it. (To my knowledge, nobody has seriously attempted this yet.)

Revision history for this message
JerryL (jlenski) wrote :

I suggest minimal use ntp instead of ntpdate. I use dovecot and it complains/crashes due to time moving backwards because of the way ntpdate updates the clock. As already mentioned, having ntp and ntpdate installed at the same time creates some confusion and I for one would like to remove ntpdate without risking breaking anything.

Revision history for this message
Deactivated User (deactivated-user636007-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

I second #4, since ntpdate looks like it's in the process of being deprecated upstream.
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=514318

Revision history for this message
Ben Shadwick (benshadwick) wrote :

nptdate was considered deprecated 4 years ago, please take another look

Changed in ubuntu-meta (Ubuntu):
status: Triaged → Confirmed
Changed in ubuntu-meta (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Triaged
Changed in ntp (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
A. Denton (aquina) wrote :

Nonetheless nice to see some progress with regards to this bug.

Revision history for this message
Ben Shadwick (benshadwick) wrote :

Huh? The only change was that I tried to raise it from the dead, and it got smacked right back down into the wishlist bin :(

2 of the 3 "hottest" issues for the ubuntu-meta package are in triaged:wishlist state, and this is one of them.

Revision history for this message
A. Denton (aquina) wrote :

Yeah, probably the meta package really depends on one of the two ntp packages. I guess its just not important enough at this point.

Revision history for this message
z (steveriley-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Probably like the rest of you, I stumbled across this bug when I was looking for a way to remove ntpdate from my system because I'm using ntp, and I don't want the meta package to go away. Here's a workaround.

1. Install the package equivs. This is a simple tool to create trivial Debian packages.

2. Create the configuration file for the ntpdate dummy package:
| $ equivs-control ntpdate-dummy

3. Open ntpdate-dummy in your favorite editor and make these changes:
| Package: ntpdate-dummy
| Version: 9.9
| Provides: ntpdate
| Description: Fake ntpdate; see Launchpad bug 61619

4. Now build the ntpdate dummy package:
| $ equivs-build ntpdate-dummy

5. Install it:
| $ sudo dpkg -i ntpdate-dummy_9.9_all.deb

6. Remove ntpdate:
| $ sudo apt-get purge ntpdate

(Inspiration: comment #16 in bug 556372)

Revision history for this message
Rolf Leggewie (r0lf) wrote :

ntpdate has been deprecated upstream for a long time as previously pointed out several times. The NTP code has seen numerous security vulnerabilities and we have to assume that ntpdate is not receiving the same scrutiny anymore when compared to ntpd. This is no longer a wishlist change only. Ignoring the bitrot and neglect of this core package is getting more and more risky which really makes no sense when an alternative is readily available.

Setting milestone for vivid, hoping that it is not too late, yet.

summary: - ntpdate in -minimal should have an alternative
+ please replace dependency on ntpdate in ubuntu-minimal with ntp
Changed in ubuntu-meta (Ubuntu):
importance: Wishlist → Medium
milestone: none → ubuntu-15.02
Revision history for this message
Rolf Leggewie (r0lf) wrote :

copying comment 0 from bug 583994 here for reference and completeness

Given that 'ntpdate' is being obsoleted upstream [1], we should replace 'ntpdate' usage by:

 * ntpd -qg (if we really want to set the time and exit), or
 * ntpd-g (if we want to keep ntpd running)

the '-q' option will set the clock once, and exit; the 'g' allows for large corrections to the clock, like what is done by 'ntpdate'.

[1] http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~mills/ntp/html/ntpdate.html

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