On Mon, 19 Dec 2016 12:38:51 +0100 Vincent Lefevre <vinc...@vinc17.net> wrote:
> On 2016-12-16 18:06:26 +0000, Joe wrote: > > Do you have X running? > > Not always. > > > I use Synaptic in these situations, where it is easy to try packages > > to see what can be upgraded without removals I'm not willing to > > accept. > > But that's not automatic (aptitude can also do that, and one can > undo a choice if it yields removals). > Difficult to see how it could be automated, as sometimes it's a value judgement as to whether to temporarily sacrifice application x in order to upgrade y immediately, or whether to wait a while. Occasionally, a package is removed permanently, and there's no obvious way of differentiating such a removal from a temporary dependency issue without resorting to a search engine. And I know that aptitude can do all kinds of amazing things in interactive mode, but I have some kind of mental block about it. I've tried learning it two or three times, and it seems to be just about as counter-intuitive to operate as anything possibly can be. I have nothing against curses programs, I use mc in preference to other file managers for admin work on my workstation, which does run X at all times. I just don't get on with aptitude. -- Joe
