[Bug 1492709] [NEW] New packages (e.g. kernels) not marked for autoremove iff update-manager set to "display" rather than "install automatically"

[Jacob Nevins]

Public bug reported:

On all my Trusty installations, if the settings for "when there are
updates" in the update-manager GUI are set to "Display immediately"
rather than "Download and install automatically", then any newly
installed packages are not marked as automatically installed, preventing
the removal of old kernels (by e.g. "apt-get autoremove").

I usually have "Display immediately" set, so I can see what security
updates are going by. This leads to my systems silting up with old
kernels; I manually uninstall them occasionally. I was expecting them to
be automatically managed.

The relevant kernel packages do not show up in "apt-mark showauto"; I
think this is the problem. I think the machinery for keeping selected
kernels (visible in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/01autoremove-kernels) is working
fine and is not the source of the problem.

I confirmed my diagnosis by temporarily setting my netbook to "Download
and install automatically" and waiting for a kernel security update. The
newly installed kernel packages (3.13.0-63) showed up in "apt-mark
showauto". I left my desktop machine at "Display immediately", and the
same kernel does not appear in "apt-mark showauto", as usual.

I'm guessing the issue is that if the user is given the opportunity to
manually choose whether packages are installed, then just leaving the
checkboxes checked is treated as an explicit manual installation. Or
something like that.

(This might be a duplicate of bug #1439769. However, I wasn't sure, as
(a) that bug doesn't mention the UI configuration as being significant,
(b) only mentions Vivid, so maybe it's a different/worse problem. Thanks
to Colin Watson for explaining to me how the kernel autoremoval
machinery works.)

update-manager version: 1:0.196.13 on Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS
(as far as I recall, this has been the behaviour ever since I upgraded to Trusty)

** Affects: update-manager (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1492709

Title:
  New packages (e.g. kernels) not marked for autoremove iff update-
  manager set to "display" rather than "install automatically"

Status in update-manager package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  On all my Trusty installations, if the settings for "when there are
  updates" in the update-manager GUI are set to "Display immediately"
  rather than "Download and install automatically", then any newly
  installed packages are not marked as automatically installed,
  preventing the removal of old kernels (by e.g. "apt-get autoremove").

  I usually have "Display immediately" set, so I can see what security
  updates are going by. This leads to my systems silting up with old
  kernels; I manually uninstall them occasionally. I was expecting them
  to be automatically managed.

  The relevant kernel packages do not show up in "apt-mark showauto"; I
  think this is the problem. I think the machinery for keeping selected
  kernels (visible in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/01autoremove-kernels) is
  working fine and is not the source of the problem.

  I confirmed my diagnosis by temporarily setting my netbook to
  "Download and install automatically" and waiting for a kernel security
  update. The newly installed kernel packages (3.13.0-63) showed up in
  "apt-mark showauto". I left my desktop machine at "Display
  immediately", and the same kernel does not appear in "apt-mark
  showauto", as usual.

  I'm guessing the issue is that if the user is given the opportunity to
  manually choose whether packages are installed, then just leaving the
  checkboxes checked is treated as an explicit manual installation. Or
  something like that.

  (This might be a duplicate of bug #1439769. However, I wasn't sure, as
  (a) that bug doesn't mention the UI configuration as being
  significant, (b) only mentions Vivid, so maybe it's a different/worse
  problem. Thanks to Colin Watson for explaining to me how the kernel
  autoremoval machinery works.)

  update-manager version: 1:0.196.13 on Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS
  (as far as I recall, this has been the behaviour ever since I upgraded to Trusty)

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