System unstable after upgrading

[whatshisname]

I think my problem stems from having included the "test" repository in order to get a package installed, forgetting to de-selct it afterwards and doing an upgrade in Gslapt.

Now I'm having all kinds of stability problems.  For instance, I wanted to install xampp from the xampp website and I already had mysql installed from the repositories.  I figured it would be a good idea to remove my version of mysql.  When I did so, the package manager took out VASM and gambas!  I mean, come on!  MySQL taking out VASM?  I have since manually put those packages back in by downloading them only and manually doing an "installpkg" on them thereby avoiding re-installing mysql. 

Among other things now, GSLAPT is squirrely.  It never really quits after I run it the first time and subsequent calls to start it just keep adding more and more zombie processes without starting up the GUI.

Assuming upgrading with "testing" turned on is the source of my problems, is there a way for me to take all those "testing" packages out and hopefully get back to a more stable system?

Thanks.

[Daniel]

When you try to remove a package with Gslapt it does seem to uninstall that package as well as most or all of it's dependencies. I wrote a script that will safely remove only the package that you specify and nothing else. It can be found here: http://forum.vectorlinux.com/index.php?topic=11371.0

[GrannyGeek]

I never use Gslapt to remove a package because it tends to take out dependencies, too.

Another way to remove a just a package and nothing else is to run as root
removepkg nameofpackage
from a terminal prompt.
--GrannyGeek

[gamfa]

To add to what Granny's post....the "removepkg" command is part of pkgtools-tukaani. There are other capabilities and utilities available in that app. Open a root terminal and type "pkgtool" <ret>. A nice gui will open up that allows you to do a lot of things with your package management.

[newt]

Although Daniels script and the 'removepgk name_of_package' methods work, they are not intuitive. A new VL user who installs packages via Gslapt does not know that they must use the command line to remove packages.  We need the ability to remove packages from our systems using gslapt.

Where does the fault lie? Is it in our dependency metadata in the package lists? Is it within slapt-get itself?

[retired1af]

I would hazard a guess that it's within slapt-get. Considering the dependencies listed could also be required for other applications and routines, slapt-get isn't too picky about what it removes. If a dependency is listed, it assumes that nothing else uses that dependency.

It's been a long while since I've really played around at the nuts and bolts level (something that will be corrected soon!), but perhaps gslapt could be written in a manner that allows removepkg to be used if one needs to remove something from the system?

[Daniel]

I noticed that kpackage is included with VL6 SOHO (both versions). Does anyone know if it has the same problem with dependency removing that Gslapt does?

[newt]

I would hazard a guess that it's within slapt-get. Considering the dependencies listed could also be required for other applications and routines, slapt-get isn't too picky about what it removes. If a dependency is listed, it assumes that nothing else uses that dependency.

It's been a long while since I've really played around at the nuts and bolts level (something that will be corrected soon!), but perhaps gslapt could be written in a manner that allows removepkg to be used if one needs to remove something from the system?

Utilizing removepkg when removing packages from a system via gslapt (or slapt-get) would accomplish the end goal, or some method of just disabling dependency checking when a package is being removed would suffice. Either way I think we'd end up with the same result without other dependencies being removed.  It's a starting point.

The next best thing would be to have a packages dependencies checked and compared to installed packages in the system to determine if those dependencies are still being utilized by other packages. Unfortunately, this would be much more laborsome and certainly prone to error (and extenuating circumstances).

I noticed that kpackage is included with VL6 SOHO (both versions). Does anyone know if it has the same problem with dependency removing that Gslapt does?

You know, I've seen the kpackage option in the latest SOHO but I've never attempted to use it.  It would definitely be worth looking into.  A ventured guess would be that it will not work correctly due to using slack-like packages with "homegrown" dependency checking, but it's a TOTAL guess.

[whatshisname]

Thanks everyone for the replies.  I thought I would be notified by email when someone posted to this thread and had figured no one had replied until I just checked the forum.

Speaking as an experienced Linux user but new to Vector, it's awfully counter-intuitive to someone coming to Vector not to use the same package manager for both installing and uninstalling packages.  Ubuntu, certainly, and last time I checked RPM based distros do just that.  This has been a hard lesson to learn.  I'm on the brink of re-installing the operating system to get past the instabilities I'm experiencing now.  X is now prone to re-starting on its own and I can't seem to detect a pattern but it's aggravating to say the least.

I would go so far as to say if you shouldn't use GSLAPT to uinstall programs then the developers should put that warning up in Big Bold Letters at the top of the opening screen.  This is a near deal killer.  I've invested weeks tweaking this system and getting extra packages installed that I need to do my work.  I would sincerely hate to have to start over now.  Among other things, my wife would kill me if I disappear into my office again for nights on end just getting my computer to work!! :-)