Nearly anything would be better than the current state of silent failure. At present, probably many thousands of Ubuntu systems are reporting the following:
root@system:/home# apt-get upgrade Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done Calculating upgrade... Done The following packages have been kept back: libnvidia-cfg1-470 libnvidia-compute-470 libnvidia-compute-470:i386 libnvidia-decode-470 libnvidia-decode-470:i386 libnvidia-encode-470 libnvidia-encode-470:i386 libnvidia-extra-470 libnvidia-fbc1-470 libnvidia-fbc1-470:i386 libnvidia-gl-470 libnvidia-gl-470:i386 libnvidia-ifr1-470 libnvidia-ifr1-470:i386 linux-modules-nvidia-470-5.13.0-28-generic linux-modules-nvidia-470-generic-hwe-20.04 linux-objects-nvidia-470-5.13.0-28-generic linux-signatures-nvidia-5.13.0-28-generic nvidia-compute-utils-470 nvidia-driver-470 nvidia-kernel-common-470 nvidia-kernel-source-470 nvidia-utils-470 xserver-xorg-video-nvidia-470 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 24 not upgraded. Providing not even a hint as to which of those packages is uninstallable, or why, would be unacceptable in most development contexts. In this case, with preceding versions of most or all of those packages already installed, it is far from clear to end-users why their system refuses to install official upgrades. Not many software tools respond to user instructions with a simple "No", and that's generally considered bad practice. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Touch seeded packages, which is subscribed to apt in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1960727 Title: When apt holds back updates, it fails to inform the user of the reason Status in apt package in Ubuntu: Opinion Bug description: In the case where apt refuses to install and holds back certain packages, only the following output is produced: root@system:/home/admin# apt upgrade Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done Calculating upgrade... Done The following packages have been kept back: [ List of packages ] 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 24 not upgraded. Missing is any explanation about which package is responsible for apt refusing to perform its job, or even what is the reason for that package being uninstallable. This bug leads users to believe that official Ubuntu packages are routinely misconstructed, corrupt, or otherwise junk. Fix: Instead of apt simply responding "No Dave, I'm Afraid I Can't Do that", correct the output to include the specific package that has a missing or unresolved dependency, so the user a) has confidence that the process works correctly and b) can proceed with fixing the problem. This bug is longstanding, so I don't think version details are required, but they follow anyway: 1) Distributor ID: Ubuntu Description: Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS Release: 20.04 Codename: focal 2) # apt --version apt 2.0.6 (amd64) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+bug/1960727/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages Post to : touch-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
