[PLUG] Stupid apt-get problem

[Mike Connors]

>
> I am trying to install the latest Opera web browser on my Lucid x86_64
> desktop computer. Currently Opera 9.20 is installed, which I did a long
> time ago by downloading the .deb file and installing it with gDebi or
> dpkg.
>
> This evening I downloaded the latest .deb (11.61) and tried to install
> it. I got an error message that, although not very clear, led me to
> believe that it could not be installed without first removing 9.20. I
> also found instructions for adding the opera repository, which I did,
> and now Opera 11.61 is listed in Synaptic. But trying to install it with
> Synaptic results in the same error message.
>
> I can launch Opera 9.20 and it runs fine. But Opera 9.20 is not listed
> in Synaptic. "Aptitude show opera" says there is no such package.
> "Aptitude remove opera" says no packages are to be removed.
>
> WTH? How do I get rid of 9.20? How is it that I can launch and run a
> program that is not installed on the computer?
>

The command "apt-cache pkgnames | grep <pkgname>" command will list any
packages in the apt-cache that have that name.

e.g.

root at mc-sidux:~# apt-cache pkgnames | grep chrome
google-chrome-unstable
xserver-xorg-video-openchrome
google-chrome-beta
xserver-xorg-video-openchrome-dbg
google-chrome-stable

If by chance Opera isn't listed try using the "locate" or "mlocate" command.

e.g.

root at mc-sidux:~# locate opera
/lib/modules/2.6.32-2.slh.4-sidux-686/kernel/drivers/media/dvb/dvb-usb/dvb-usb-opera.ko
/usr/include/c++/4.4/parallel/set_operations.h
/usr/lib/python2.5/lib-dynload/operator.so
/usr/share/icons/oxygen/16x16/actions/irc-operator.png
/usr/share/icons/oxygen/16x16/actions/irc-remove-operator.png

You may need to update  the locate database with the command "updatedb &"

If you find Opera directories and files you will have to remove them
manually.

You can also try apt-get install -f Opera and see if that will fix broken
package dependencies. Which sometimes happens in situations like these.

Good luck!







aptitude remebers which packages you deliberately installed and which have
been automatically installed to satisfy dependencies. Upon removal of a
package aptitude will remove those automatically installed packages to keep
your system tidy. apt-get isn't that smart.

aptitude will quickly become an indispensable tool once you use different
repositories with different versions of a package. Imagine you are working
with backports.org or inofficial repositories like debian-multimedia.org.
Then aptitude will show (at the bottom of the details page of a certain
package) the available version number and allow you to select one.
If you get into a situation where programs conflict due to such usage of
inofficial repositories you will see a "Broken: ..." display on the top.
You can type l~b (limit / flag / broken) and just get a list of packages
that conflict with each other. Makes it much easier to resolve the conflict
manually.

>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:12:11 -0800
> From: Joseph Hume <joseph at f1forhelp.net>
> Subject: Re: [PLUG] Stupid apt-get problem
>