[Bug 512190] Re: "apt-get --ignore-missing install" fails when it can't find a package

[David Kalnischkies]

So, you are saying that it is okay to run scripts which are no longer
maintained? And that we should help script writers to write scripts
which are not maintained but should not fail in the future (at least not
in an obvious way)? Those are the same "helpers" run with --yes (and
sometimes --force-yes), right?

Completely ignoring my personal opinion on those "helpers": Renames
aren't covered either. What used to be a game, is now a browser
(chromium) and what used to be tools for file and process operations is
now a version control system (git). A handy-dandy helper setting up a
tlh environment in distro v1 stops doing the same in distro v2 because
packages got renamed, dropped, whatever… are you going to tell a badly
tempered Klingon he should be happy, that the script at least didn't
complain loudly, even if it didn't worked in the end?

Its not that hard to check for existence of a package from a script if
you really want to. And even if you don't, apt-get is accepting more
than just simple packagenames on the commandline (did I hear someone
saying regex?) so if you really want to, you can have all the cake and
eat it now already. No need for yet another obscure option, way too much
already.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/512190

Title:
  "apt-get --ignore-missing install" fails when it can't find a package

Status in “apt” package in Ubuntu:
  Opinion

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: apt

  I have a script for configuring Ubuntu after installation.  I'd like
  to be able to run one apt-get command to download and install all the
  packages I normally use.  Unfortunately, the availability of a package
  varies over time and release.  Upon reviewing the manpages, it appears
  that "--ignore-missing" should do what I want, but it still causes
  apt-get to fail:

  sudo apt-get --ignore-missing install kdvi; echo $?
  Reading package lists... Done
  Building dependency tree
  Reading state information... Done
  E: Couldn't find package kdvi
  100

  Now, I could loop and run "apt-get install" for every package,
  ignoring the exit codes, but that doesn't seem to be the way apt-get
  is supposed to be used.

  If --ignore-missing does something other than what I want, the manual
  pages need to make clear exactly what it does.  Furthermore it seems
  reasonable to request an option to allow apt-get to proceed even if it
  doesn't find all the requested packages - failing to install ANY of
  the specified packages when one isn't present seems to be the wrong
  behavior in this context.

  ProblemType: Bug
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Sun Jan 24 21:31:21 2010
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
  Package: apt 0.7.23.1ubuntu2
  ProcEnviron:
   LANGUAGE=
   PATH=(custom, user)
   LANG=C
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-17.54-generic
  SourcePackage: apt
  Uname: Linux 2.6.31-17-generic x86_64

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