Please find attached a candidate postinst for apt-file, which should run `apt-file update` on configuration only if the first host in /etc/apt/sources.list is reachable over the network. Note that this postinst does not support /etc/apt/sources.list.d/. While this doesn't solve the problem, it may reduce the frequency with which it is encountered.
-- Emmet HIKORY
apt-file.postinst
Description: Binary data
