[Bug 1098512] Re: Build 12.04.2 images with X enablement (lts-quantal) stack

[Colin Watson]

OK.  So, as expected, lots more packages end up marked as auto-installed
following this change (see attachment).  I think that was pretty much
inevitable.  I've looked through the changes and they all seem broadly
reasonable, though - the top-level metapackages and such are still
marked as manually installed.  In some ways I suppose you might argue
that this is really better, although it does mean that people who remove
metapackages will see lots of stuff offered for autoremove - but they
might even want that sometimes, and we did always say that people who
removed our metapackages were on their own.

I think this is about the best we can reasonably do in the
circumstances.

** Patch added: "extended_states.diff"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/livecd-rootfs/+bug/1098512/+attachment/3520553/+files/extended_states.diff

** Tags removed: verification-needed
** Tags added: verification-done

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Title:
  Build 12.04.2 images with X enablement (lts-quantal) stack

Status in “livecd-rootfs” package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid
Status in “livecd-rootfs” source package in Precise:
  Fix Released

Bug description:
  [Impact] We have committed to delivering the X enablement stack by default for 12.04.2.
  [Test Case] Install system with old images and take a copy of /var/lib/apt/ (primarily extended_states).  Install system with new images.  Check that the X enablement stack is installed.  Get a package management expert from Foundations to compare /var/lib/apt/extended_states before and after and check that any changes in auto-installed states are acceptable.
  [Regression Potential] Aside from any possible X regressions, which I think are principally the responsibility of the (separately SRUed) X changes rather than this one, the main possible source of regressions from this change would be changes in auto-installed states.  See below.

  For 12.04.2, we need to build desktop images with the X lts-quantal
  stack in cases where they are already being built with the lts-quantal
  kernel (i.e. ubuntu, ubuntu-dvd, edubuntu, and edubuntu-dvd).  This
  involves installing xserver-xorg-lts-quantal rather than xserver-xorg.

  Unfortunately there is no non-invasive way to do this as far as I've
  been able to tell, because at present we can't regenerate tasks for
  stable releases - or, at least, if we do so there's no way to *remove*
  xserver-xorg and friends from the task.  The only way to do this while
  still using tasks is to install the task and then install xserver-
  xorg-lts-quantal over the top, thereby removing xserver-xorg and
  friends.  Not only is this extremely painful to arrange with the
  version of live-build in precise, but it would likely also result in
  significant amounts of library cruft remaining in the image.  Removing
  that would entail a considerable amount of unmaintainable hardcoding.

  Thus, with some regret, the only idea I have is to switch the images
  in question to install metapackages rather than tasks.  This carries
  some risk because it may cause apt to have a different idea of which
  packages are auto-installed, and thus potentially cause problems for
  future upgrades.  We'll simply need to keep a close eye on the results
  and make sure any changes in apt's extended states are acceptable.

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