apt-get -f = REMOVED: ubuntu-desktop

[Matthew Palmer]

On Sun, Jun 25, 2006 at 10:45:07AM -0500, Carl Karsten wrote:
> I am trying to upgrade to gaim v2b3 - I found a .deb here: 
> http://packages.debian.org/experimental/net/gaim
> 
> I get "Failed to compleetely install all dependencies  - To fix this run 
> 'sudo apt-get install -f'/..."
> 
> carl at amd15:~$ sudo apt-get -f install
> Reading package lists... Done
> Building dependency tree... Done
> Correcting dependencies... Done
> The following packages will be REMOVED:
>   gaim ubuntu-desktop

gaim is going to be removed because it's dependencies can't be satisfied,
and ubuntu-desktop is going to be removed because it depends on gaim and
gaim is going to be removed.

The reason why you're getting dependency failures is because you're trying
to install software out of Debian's experimental, which is built with the
latest and greatest libraries which Ubuntu's releases don't have yet. 
You'll either need to rebuild the package you downloaded against the
libraries in the release of Ubuntu you're using, or upgrade your system to
Debian unstable to get those new libraries.  The former is probably
non-trivial, and the latter is likely to cause you pain and suffering down
the line unless you're quite adept at fixing problems as they arise.

All things considered, I'd probably find some kind soul to do the former for
you, and then buy them a beer.

To get you out of the pickle you're in now, I'd run "apt-get -f install",
accept that ubuntu-desktop and gaim are going to be removed (temporarily),
then once that's done run "apt-get install ubuntu-desktop" and it should put
back the Dapper version of gaim for you, along with ubuntu-desktop, and all
should be good.

- Matt