Bug number 753592 was merged into bug number 753444. Bug number 753444 was then marked as fixed in perl-base version 5.18.2-6. At the time of this writing, this version is now in testing (jessie). So one would think it would be safe now to upgrade one's system, right? Well, yes and no. It can be done, but not in the standard way. If you use
apt-get update apt-get upgrade The upgrade will fail. The problem is a trigger in perl-base for man-db. Configuring man-db requires hidden dependencies on other packages which are not yet installed. Here's how I managed to break the deadlock. First of all, I had previously put perl, perl-base, and perl-modules on hold at the 5.18.2-4 level with echo perl hold | dpkg --set-selections echo perl-base hold | dpkg --set-selections echo perl-modules hold | dpkg --set-selections So the first step was to remove the holds with echo perl install | dpkg --set-selections echo perl-base install | dpkg --set-selections echo perl-modules install | dpkg --set-selections Of course, it should go without saying that you have to be root to do all of this. But I'll say it anyway for good measure. Now change your current directory to a directory without any *.deb files in it and proceed as follows: apt-get update apt-get download perl perl-base perl-modules libgdbm3 \ liblocale-gettext-perl libtext-charwidth-perl libtext-iconv-perl dpkg -i perl-base_*.deb Unpacking and configuring of perl-base will succeed, but the trigger for configuring man-db will fail. This leaves perl-base with a dpkg status of "ii" and man-db with a dpkg status of "iF". You can check this with dpkg-query -l perl-base dpkg-query -l man-db if you want. Keep going as follows: dpkg -i perl-modules_*.deb dpkg -i libgdbm3_*.deb dpkg -i perl_*.deb dpkg -i liblocale-gettext-perl_*.deb dpkg -i libtext-charwidth-perl_*.deb dpkg -i libtext-iconv-perl_*.deb Now you have the prerequisites installed to configure man-db dpkg --configure man-db Now check the status of man-db again. dpkg-query -l man-db Now it shows up with a status of "ii", which is what you want. Now do some cleanup ... rm *.deb apt-get check If "apt-get check" gives errors, then use "apt-get -f install" to fix it. Once this is done, proceed to upgrade the rest of your database. apt-get upgrade apt-get clean apt-get --purge dist-upgrade apt-get clean apt-get --purge autoremove aptitude forget-new aptitude keep-all I hope this helps someone. -- .''`. Stephen Powell : :' : `. `'` `- -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-bugs-rc-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org