[Bug 1166230] Re: Updater lists many transitional dummy packages

[Scott Ritchie]

I endorse throwing it into ubuntu-base, which is code for "mysterious
stuff you don't understand".  I would also support just having a new
"backwards compatibility" section to carry oldlibs.

As for why dummy packages exist, it's not just to handle old
dependencies that haven't been updated.  Sometimes apt's resolver needs
a transitional package because it refuses to uninstall a package on a
purported upgrade to that very package.  So two upgrades have to happen:

wine1.4 (version 1.4-1) upgrades to dummy wine1.4 (version 1.6-2), which
depends on real wine1.6.

One LTS release later, when I've removed wine1.4 from the archive and
know that all wine1.4 are dummy packages, I can then have wine1.6
(version 1.6-2) which conflicts with wine1.4 and uninstalls it properly.
One more LTS later I can remove those crufty bits from the metadata.

So, yes, a dummy package will thus linger for upwards of 2 years.
Precise had wine1.4.  Trusty will need a wine1.4 dummy package.  16.04
LTS can finally get rid of it using breaks/replaces.  18.04 LTS can
avoid mentioning wine1.4 entirely.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1166230

Title:
  Updater lists many transitional dummy packages

Status in “update-manager” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  update-manager 1:0.185, Ubuntu 13.04

  The update-manager GUI lists a number of "Transitional dummy packages"
  available for update. There doesn't seem to be any additional
  information available about these packages through the UI. As a user I
  have no idea what I am supposed to do with them.

  I suggest grouping the "transitional dummy package" under the "Ubuntu
  base" section in update-manager, so that they are not displayed to the
  end user by default.

  To reproduce:
  1) Run Software Updater from the dash
  2) Look at the list of updates in the "Details of updates" list

  The Ubuntu Software Center equivalent is bug 526330.

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