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Re: [LUG] Debian package list comparison?

 

On Wednesday 21 December 2005 10:28 am, Grant Sewell wrote:
> Does anyone know of a tool that allows you to see from where a Debian
> package was installed?

The Filename: variable in the apt-cache show output:
$ apt-cache show pilot-qof | grep Filename:
Filename: packages/pilot-qof_0.0.6-1_i386.deb
Filename: pool/main/p/pilot-qof/pilot-qof_0.0.6-1_i386.deb

The first listing is indicative of a package on a trivial / extra repository.
The second listing is indicative of an installation from the Debian mirrors.

> Or to compare what is currently installed with 
> what's listed on the Debian package repositories (in your sources.list
> file)?

If the version number is exactly the same in each repository in your sources 
list, it should be the same package. If not, complain LOUDLY to the 
maintainer.

If the version number is different, you can search for just that.

> The reason I ask is that some while ago I added a bunch of "extra" 
> Debian repositories to my sources.list file, and promptly installed some
> packages.  I have since removed said entries from my sources.list file
> (well, commented them out) and I would now like to generate a list of
> packages that I have on my system that came from these "extra"
> repositories, so that I can see about removing them.

A little bash scripting may be needed to parse the | grep Filename output for 
non-standard repository structure. It depends entirely on how the extra 
repository configured their filesystem. If it's too close to the standard 
Debian pool, you'll need another method.

In other cases, the extra repository itself may well be accessible via http:// 
so you can browse the packages directly and identify which ones you are 
likely to have installed. Depends how large the extra repository actually is.

Note that browsing via http will show packages that are not necessarily listed 
in the Packages.gz file of the actual repository - i.e. packages not 
available via apt-get. These are usually old/broken/dead.

In all situations, if the installed package from the extra repository now has 
the same version number as the current Debian mirrors, you should have the 
same package as everyone else and can continue to update it without your 
extra sources.

-- 

Neil Williams
=============
http://www.data-freedom.org/
http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/
http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/

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