Public bug reported: Before you run "apt-file update", apt-file is a very useless utility:
$ apt-file show metacity $ apt-file show blabla $ Instead of not returning anything, apt-file should return some kind of error message such as "Package 'blabla' not found, have you updated the package contents? Run: apt-file update" The man page describes the update command, but isn't explicit enough in that it needs to be executed before apt-file will start working. It seems I am not the only one who has been bitten by this: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/kubuntu-users/2006-August/008279.html ** Affects: apt-file (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: Unconfirmed -- apt-file update needs to be run https://launchpad.net/bugs/74097 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs