[SOLVED] Can't upgrade git past 1.7.0.4

Abscissa256 · 01-07-2012, 11:46 PM

I'm on git 1.7.0.4 and I need to upgrade it, but it won't go any further than this version. I did:

$sudo apt-get update
$sudo apt-get upgrade git

And it started upgrading all sorts of stuff. Seemed like half my system, and it took much longer than updates normally take. In any case, it finally finished, but git was still 1.7.0.4. Running the apt-get upgrade command again doesn't update anything.

knudfl · 01-08-2012, 05:33 AM

Updating one package (git) is plain 'sudo apt-get install git'

Which OS are you using ? Here it says Debian 6
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ight-913696/#1

( Debian 6 default = git 1:1.7.2.5-3
Debian 6 backports : git 1:1.7.7.3-1~bpo60+2
http://packages.debian.org/squeeze-backports/git )

..

Abscissa256 · 01-08-2012, 04:19 PM

That's a different system (although it did have the same problem, just with a slightly newer Git. That "1.7.2" like you mentioned sounds like what it was, IIRC). This one is my main Linux box, which is Kubuntu 10.04 at the moment.

In any case, I managed to get 1.7.8 installed on both systems by downloading and compiling the git source. It was kind of a pain figuring out the names of some of the dependent packages, but I managed to get it. I still don't get why it didn't "just simply work" with apt-get though.

Abscissa256 · 01-08-2012, 04:34 PM

I just found out somewhere else that "apt-get upgrade" ignores any package names you give it, and just upgrades everything that it can upgrade without installing any new packages. It's strange, I've been using that command for at least a couple years to try to upgrade individual packages, so I can't believe I never knew that about it (it never complained and always worked, and "upgrade" always sounded much more logical to upgrade something then "install").

Well, mystery apparently solved.