@ximion: I missed that. After upgrading libappstream3 from -proposed, everything works fine. Thanks.
The reason I warned against removing the binary is because it's a bad practice in general, even though in this particular problem scenario the removed binary gets restored when its package is upgraded. Package- managed files should only be removed as a last resort when there isn't a better/safer workaround that won't potentially leave any part of the system in a broken or inconsistent state at any point in time. In this case, a safe workaround does exist, which is to disable appstream's apt config in the canonically-prescribed manner: appending ".disabled" to the config's filename. So the complete procedure to fix this safely would be: $ sudo mv /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50appstream /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50appstream.disabled $ cd /tmp && mkdir asfix $ cd asfix $ wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/appstream_0.9.4-1ubuntu1_amd64.deb $ wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/libappstream3_0.9.4-1ubuntu1_amd64.deb $ sudo dpkg -i *.deb $ sudo mv /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50appstream.disabled /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50appstream -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Desktop Bugs, which is subscribed to appstream in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1579712 Title: Refresh hangs due to strdup on non-NULL terminated string To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/appstream/+bug/1579712/+subscriptions -- desktop-bugs mailing list desktop-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/desktop-bugs