error

[Derek Broughton]

Chanchao wrote:

> On Wed, 2006-04-26 at 07:31 +0800, Michael T. Richter wrote:
> 
>> Sounds to me, then, like a better system has to be put into place to
>> handle the lock file, doesn't it?  (That would be one of the core
>> tenets of good user interface design: if an error is commonplace, fix
>> the user interface to either render it impossible or render it not an
>> error.)
> 
> Well, I think a slight tweak in the error message wording would be
> enough. It's obviously an 'error' in the sense that Synaptic can't
> continue at this point.  Perhaps just add to the error message that also
> the 'Add/Remove programs' tool AND the automatic updates thingy count as
> package management applications.
> 
> Or, slightly better, let Synaptic report exactly what package manager is
> running that prevents it from starting up.

For once I have to agree with Michael.  One of the problems I always had
with synaptic is its need for a lock when it's not actually doing any
updates.  kpackage never had this problem - it lets apt-get handle the
locking when you actually try to install or remove packages.  Since
Synaptic's only value to me has ever been as a package browser (I do my
installs with aptitude at the command line), locking as soon as you start
synaptic is annoying at best.
-- 
derek