[Bug 886273] Re: Poor handling of broken sources.list files

[Launchpad Bug Tracker]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

** Changed in: software-center (Ubuntu)
       Status: New => Confirmed

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/886273

Title:
  Poor handling of broken sources.list files

Status in “aptdaemon” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in “software-center” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in “update-manager” package in Ubuntu:
  Triaged

Bug description:
  Ubuntu Software Center 2.1.16.1, Ubuntu Maverick
  Ubuntu Software Center 5.1.11, Ubuntu 12.04 beta 1

  1. echo "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ppa/ubuntu main #Ubuntu Tweak Stable Source" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-tweak-stable.list
  2. software-center
  3. update-manager

  What happens:
  2. ----------
  Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/db/pkginfo_impl/aptcache.py", line 222, in open
      self._cache = apt.Cache(GtkMainIterationProgress())
    File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/apt/cache.py", line 102, in __init__
      self.open(progress)
    File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/apt/cache.py", line 145, in open
      self._cache = apt_pkg.Cache(progress)
  SystemError: E:Malformed line 1 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-tweak-stable.list (dist parse), E:The list of sources could not be read., E:The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
  2012-03-12 10:52:15,573 - softwarecenter.db.enquire - ERROR - _get_estimate_nr_apps_and_nr_pkgs failed
  Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/db/enquire.py", line 115, in _get_estimate_nr_apps_and_nr_pkgs
      tmp_matches = enquire.get_mset(0, len(self.db), None, xfilter)
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/db/appfilter.py", line 74, in __call__
      if (not pkgname in self.cache and
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/db/pkginfo_impl/aptcache.py", line 241, in __contains__
      return self._cache.__contains__(k)
  AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute '__contains__'
  Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/usr/bin/software-center", line 176, in <module>
      app.run(args)
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/ui/gtk3/app.py", line 1279, in run
      self.show_available_packages(args)
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/ui/gtk3/app.py", line 1208, in show_available_packages
      self.view_manager.set_active_view(ViewPages.AVAILABLE)
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/ui/gtk3/session/viewmanager.py", line 148, in set_active_view
      view_widget.init_view()
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/ui/gtk3/panes/availablepane.py", line 157, in init_view
      self.apps_filter)
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/ui/gtk3/views/catview_gtk.py", line 234, in __init__
      self.build(desktopdir)
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/ui/gtk3/views/catview_gtk.py", line 476, in build
      self._build_homepage_view()
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/ui/gtk3/views/catview_gtk.py", line 253, in _build_homepage_view
      self._append_whats_new()
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/ui/gtk3/views/catview_gtk.py", line 415, in _append_whats_new
      whats_new_cat = self._update_whats_new_content()
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/ui/gtk3/views/catview_gtk.py", line 404, in _update_whats_new_content
      docs = whats_new_cat.get_documents(self.db)
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/db/categories.py", line 120, in get_documents
      nonblocking_load=False)
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/db/enquire.py", line 316, in set_query
      self._blocking_perform_search()
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/db/enquire.py", line 211, in _blocking_perform_search
      matches = enquire.get_mset(0, self.limit, None, xfilter)
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/db/appfilter.py", line 74, in __call__
      if (not pkgname in self.cache and
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/db/pkginfo_impl/aptcache.py", line 241, in __contains__
      return self._cache.__contains__(k)
  AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute '__contains__'
  ------------

  3. A dialog is displayed with something along these lines:
  ------------
  Could not initialize the package information
  An unresolvable problem occurred while initializing the package information.
  Please report this bug against the 'update-manager' package and include the following error message:
  'E:Type 't/screenlets/ppa/ubuntu' is not known on line 3 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/screenlets-ppa-oneiric.list'
  ------------
  And an obese menu appears in the corner of the screen. <http://imgur.com/a/pgGEf#2>

  
  Besides the duplicates marked here, there are dozens of bug reports with particular examples of malformed sources.list, such as bug 128775, bug 163933, bug 164135, bug 176253, bug 183861, bug 241154, bug 311399, bug 350373, bug 358587, bug 416872, bug 432318, bug 470589, bug 617232, bug 617998, bug 677698, bug 728258, bug 753253, bug 799600, bug 830588, bug 835258, bug 879221, bug 880661, bug 886641, bug 890138, bug 927987, bug 947296, bug 981357, bug 1008359, bug 1009618, and bug 1063099.

  Often these bug reports are marked as Incomplete or Invalid, or
  converted into questions, on the grounds that the user must have
  edited sources.list themselves. But Ubuntu should be robust enough to
  repair problems like this itself.

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