Package: aptitude
Version: 0.4.11.4-1
Severity: wishlist
Tags: patch
I know reading user manual gives us right answer but most people stop
reading after help.txt. So help.txt should be short but should give us
enough idea from the mental model of Daniel Burrows.
What I saw on ML written by Daniel Burrows was very intuitive and less
confusing, current help.txt is a bit confusing for careless reader.
I wish Daniel Burrows update help.txt in line with his stated mental
model which use "current" instead of "state" and "planned" instead of
"action". I tried to mix the mental model of Daniel Burrows into
help.txt as attached patch.
* Made word substitutions.
s/"state"/"current state"/
s/"action"/"planned action"/
* Explained current and candidate versions and made remarks with them.
* README is not helpful for console menu user.
* Added reminder to "U" (This is my idea, though) as seen in my patch.
* Made minor adjustments.
Here is a quote from Daniel Burrows on Debian User list:
----- Forwarded message from Daniel Burrows <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -----
From: Daniel Burrows <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Total confusion with aptitude. Help, please!
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:54:55 -0700
...
Just to be a little more clear, you can find out exactly what aptitude
thinks by examining the status flags on the left-hand side of the package
list. Normally packages have flags like this:
pi package-name ...
The two characters on the left say what the current (p) and planned (i)
states of the package are. "p" here is for "purged" and "i" is for
"installed". You can find a complete list in the online help; of
particular interest for you is the "B" state, "broken". I bet that the
flags on "vim" were something like:
iB vim ...
which means that vim is currently installed, and will be broken by the
current set of planned actions.
.... (snip)
> What, exactly, does "install" mean?
"install" means "install the current candidate version of the
package". It doesn't do anything else (other pending actions stored in
the state file are ignored).
Now more information than you probably want. ;-)
In the apt universe, there are three main versions of a package: the
"current version", which is currently installed, the "candidate version",
which is what would be installed if you asked for a package, and the
"install version", the version that is going to be installed by any
pending action. Normally the install version is either the current or
the candidate version.
In other words, you might have something like
current version candidate version other versions
aptitude 0.2.15.3 0.4.4 0.4.11.5, 0.5.0
^
|
|
install version
The candidate version, btw, is chosen according to your current local
policy and preferences (see apt_preferences(5)).
"Installing" aptitude, in apt lingo, would mean changing the install
to point at version 0.4.4. Once the install was complete, both the
current and the candidate version would be 0.4.4.
(I hope that's right, because it's the mental model I use. :-) )
.... (snip)
Daniel
----- End forwarded message -----
diff -Nru aptitude-0.4.11.4.orig/help.txt aptitude-0.4.11.4/help.txt
--- aptitude-0.4.11.4.orig/help.txt 2008-03-17 14:33:43.000000000 +0900
+++ aptitude-0.4.11.4/help.txt 2008-06-22 05:31:13.000000000 +0900
@@ -4,7 +4,11 @@
to leave it.
The following keys are available by default in the aptitude information
-screens. Other keys are available; consult the README for a list of these.
+screens to browse status of packages and to set "planned action" on them.
+
+ Please note that starting of aptitude in default mode does not set "planned
+action" to "upgrade" on all upgradable packages. You must explicitly press
+"U".
"q": Quit.
"?": Display this screen.
@@ -80,19 +84,22 @@
"r": Reject an action, causing it to never be chosen, or
cancel a rejection.
+ Consult the README (User's Manual) for the full list of available keys.
+
Packages in the package list are displayed like this by default:
idA libsmbclient -2220kB 3.0.25a-1 3.0.25a-2
The three characters on the left-hand side of the display determine the
-current state of the package. The first letter is the "state" flag,
-the second letter is the "action" flag, and the third letter is the
-"automatic" flag. They are followed by the package name, the change
-in disk space attributed to it, and finally the current and available
-versions of the package.
+state of the package. The first letter is the "current state" flag, the second
+letter is the "planned action" flag, and the third letter is the "automatic"
+flag. They are followed by the package name, the change in disk space
+attributed to it, and finally the current and candidate versions of the
+package. The "candidate version" is chosen according to the current local
+policy and preferences (see apt_preferences(5)).
- The "state" flag is one of the following:
+ The "current state" flag is one of the following:
v - virtual
B - broken
@@ -103,15 +110,15 @@
i - installed
E - internal error (should not happen)
- The "action" flag is one of the following:
+ The "planned action" flag is one of the following:
h - hold
p - purge
d - delete (remove)
B - broken
- i - install
- r - reinstall
- u - upgrade
+ i - install (candidate version)
+ r - reinstall (current version)
+ u - upgrade (candidate version)
F - the available upgrade has been forbidden via "F"
If present, the "automatic" flag is "A", indicating that the package
