[Bug 1898891] Re: anacron cron.weekly error: AttributeError: module 'platform' has no attribute 'linux_distribution'

[paul fox]

Adding a "me too".  Upgraded from 18 to 20 (both LTS) and am now getting
this same error (with identical traceback as above).

It seems that /usr/share/software-
center/softwarecenter/distro/__init__.py calls
platform.linux_distribution(), which no longer exists.

>From stackoverflow (where all of my knowledge of python resides), I find this, at https://stackoverflow.com/questions/63636697/error-module-platform-has-no-attribute-linux-distribution :
  "Python 3.8 removed the "linux_distribution()" function from the platform module. It is replaced by the equivalent in the "distro" module (distro is not built-in to Python and must be installed via pip)."

For me, since I don't believe I've ever once used the index built by
apt-xapian-index, and it's only a recommendation, I've simply removed
the package.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1898891

Title:
  anacron cron.weekly error: AttributeError: module 'platform' has no
  attribute 'linux_distribution'

Status in anacron package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  Ever since upgrading to Xubuntu 20.04, anacron throws the following error weekly.  This seems to be a common problem reported on the web regarding python 3.8.  Apparently some file or library is outdated, but I have not seen this error reported in relation to anacron.
  ----------------------------------------------

  Subject: Anacron job 'cron.weekly' on <machine>.com

  /etc/cron.weekly/apt-xapian-index:
  ERROR:root:DebFileApplication import
  Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/db/__init__.py", line 6, in
  <module>
      from .debfile import DebFileApplication, DebFileOpenError
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/db/debfile.py", line 25, in
  <module>
      from softwarecenter.db.application import Application, AppDetails
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/db/application.py", line 28,
  in <module>
      import softwarecenter.distro
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/distro/__init__.py", line 201,
  in <module>
      distro_instance = _get_distro()
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/distro/__init__.py", line 168,
  in _get_distro
      distro_info = platform.linux_distribution()
  AttributeError: module 'platform' has no attribute 'linux_distribution'
  Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/usr/sbin/update-apt-xapian-index", line 104, in <module>
      if not indexer.setupIndexing(force=opts.force, system=opts.pkgfile is None):
    File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/axi/indexer.py", line 473, in
  setupIndexing
      self.plugins = Plugins(progress=self.progress, system=system)
    File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/axi/indexer.py", line 98, in __init__
      addon = Addon(fullname, **kw)
    File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/axi/indexer.py", line 53, in __init__
      self.module = imp.load_source("axi.plugin_" + self.name, fname)
    File "/usr/lib/python3.8/imp.py", line 171, in load_source
      module = _load(spec)
    File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 702, in _load
    File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 671, in _load_unlocked
    File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 783, in exec_module
    File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 219, in _call_with_frames_removed
    File "/usr/share/apt-xapian-index/plugins/software_center.py", line 13, in
  <module>
      from softwarecenter.db.update import (
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/db/update.py", line 33, in
  <module>
      from softwarecenter.backend.scagent import SoftwareCenterAgent
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/backend/scagent.py", line 30,
  in <module>
      from softwarecenter.distro import get_distro, get_current_arch
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/distro/__init__.py", line 201,
  in <module>
      distro_instance = _get_distro()
    File "/usr/share/software-center/softwarecenter/distro/__init__.py", line 168,
  in _get_distro
      distro_info = platform.linux_distribution()
  AttributeError: module 'platform' has no attribute 'linux_distribution'
  run-parts: /etc/cron.weekly/apt-xapian-index exited with return code 1

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