Package: dpkg,apt Version: n/a Severity: wishlist I know this is one of those really annoying bugs to recieve, so I wouldn't be submitting it, except I see it causing user headaches OVER and OVER and OVER, and [insert witty comment about Jason Gunthorpe here].
Both dpkg and apt print out meta-errors, i.e. reports of other errors. Users paste these into channels regularly, and although they do a good job of letting the user know that it's not working, they don't tell them how to fix it. (make is the worst offender - make: *** [install] Error 1 gets pasted more places...) Neither dpkg nor apt actually tell you what to do to fix a problem like this (besides wait until some developer fixes the package). They have to consult a Debian Expert(tm) who has to pry info from them like which script was failing, then said Debian Expert(tm) has to refer them to /var/lib/dpkg/info/packagename.scriptname (scriptname doesn't directly correlate with dpkg's error messages either!), and only *then* can work start on determining what the problem really was (this can be three emails into a bug report, if the user chose that route), and by this time a newbie can really start hating Debian. Addressing this issue will improve the quality of a significant percentage of bug reports. <SuperPhly> anyone ahve any clue... <SuperPhly> dpkg: error processing xdm (--configure): <SuperPhly> subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1 > superphly: did it print out an error *above* that? -- Robert Woodcock - [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Anybody else wanna negotiate?" -- The Fifth Element
