Why does apt-rpm .... ???
 

Hey ..o0( :newbie: )

I have been using apt-rpm for some time now, but now when I try to "apt-get upgrade"

it gives me:

The following packages have been kept back
apt docbookdtds expat gaim grip ....

and so on! In totalt 28 packages!

Why?

I'm not sure but maybe you have the latest release of those programs? I'm still pretty new to using it, so im probably wrong.

No. I have a lot of other programs, also the latest releases.

There must be a dependancy that is not being upgraded, so those packages cannot be upgraded until that other package (a dependancy) is resolved. You'll probably have to wait a few days, but it usually irons out.

Try an This may happen when there is a software conflict (i.e. upgrading one package requires the removal of another). Rather than removing the package, updated packages are held back.

I'd definately not try that if I were you. With my expierience on Redhat, Fedora, AND Debian every time I upgrade my entire distribution I end up rebooting to a totally fcked system.

I don't know how everyone else has had luck with it but I've always had a fxked system, so just a friendly warning :)

I have the same experience as jon_k I'm afraid.

Any other suggestions?

comp12345 makes an accurate diagnosis. I have found that most packages held back during a "upgrade" command are not present during a "dist-upgrade" command, for the very reason mentioned in his post. jon_k is also correct in saying that dist-upgrade can definitely cause some nasty issues if you don't take good precautions.

There are some important things to note before doing a dist-upgrade:

- Verify the apt components present in your sources.list. This is key. There is some good information here on what components to leave out under most upgrade scenarios.
- Make use of the "Hold" option in your apt.conf file. Use this when there are some specific packages (like kernel upgrades) that you don't want to install, but you do need the component from which it is located.

After preparing the sources.list and apt.conf file, try the dist-upgrade command and if nothing else just see what it recommends. It won't actually download and install anything until you give it permission. Does it take care of your held back packages? Keep in mind that you often have to run dist-upgrade more than once to finally remove all held packages.

Read the Hints section throughly.

Quite true.

Apt-get upgrade upgrades what you have, leaving any new deps as they are - resulting in the occasional hold

Apt-get dist-upgrade trys to resolve new dependancies as well and upgrade it all. You can see why this would be essential for a Distribution upgrade...

Xian, I did as you said, and it worked! thx. :-)