[ale] linus doesn't like Debian?

[James Sumners]

That is the result of a packager specifying dependencies incorrectly.
It's probably a package the Kubuntu folks think should be available on
every installation. That just highlights why "desktop" distributions
are so tricky.

It could also be that the message you are getting is merely stating
that the "kubuntu-desktop" (guessing on that name) virtual package
will be removed. That doesn't necessarily mean every package that is a
part of the kubuntu desktop will be removed. It only means that the
package which describes the kubuntu desktop will be removed. Do the
uninstall with the "--dry-run" switch and see what happens.

On 8/23/07, Jim Philips <briarpatch.jim at earthlink.net> wrote:
> On Thursday 23 August 2007 02:05:15 pm John Heim wrote:
> > From: "Jeff Lightner" <jlightner at water.com>
> >
> > > The comment about dependency hell was a reference to what occurred
> > > before yum - one would try to install an rpm only to be told they needed
> > > another rpm which in turn would require another and so on.  Yum on the
> > > other hand will let you pick the package you're interested in and find
> > > the dependencies needed to install it on YOUR system and install those
> > > at the same time.
> >
> > I think the reference is actually to the circular dependencies problem that
> > used to be so common. I switched from Red Hat to debian a few years ago.
> > But you used to get a situation where package A would depend on B and B
> > would depnd on C and C would depend on A. Supposedly you could force it to
> > install A which would break the loop. But that didn't always work.
> >
> > Friends of mine tell me that never happens any more. Besides, it can happen
> > in debian apt too. It's funny because when I first switched to debian, I
> > had way fewer problems with apt than I have had recently. Try upgrading
> > from sarge to etch, it is very difficult.
>
> I have had a few freaky things with Kubuntu. I'll go to remove some seemingly
> inconsequential package and apt-get comes back and tells me it will also
> remove the entire Kubuntu desktop. Wha?!
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-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

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