What is the difference?
 

Hello list,

I wondered what is the difference between

a) dpkg --get-selections "*" > mylist.txt
and
b) dpkg --get-selections > mylist.txt

I get different results, but the asterix is a joker, and the results should be
the same. The manual did not mention the asterix, and I suppose (as many sites
told using the asterix), option a) is orphaned.

Am I correct?

Cheers

Hans


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What is the difference?
 

On Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:59:30 +0100, Hans-J. Ullrich wrote:

> I wondered what is the difference between
>
> a) dpkg --get-selections "*" > mylist.txt and
> b) dpkg --get-selections > mylist.txt
>
> I get different results, but the asterix is a joker, and the results
> should be the same. The manual did not mention the asterix, and I
> suppose (as many sites told using the asterix), option a) is orphaned.
>
> Am I correct?

sm01@stt008:~$ dpkg --get-selections "*" > mylist.txt
sm01@stt008:~$ dpkg --get-selections > mylist2.txt
sm01@stt008:~$ diff mylist.txt mylist2.txt
791d790
< popularity-contest purge

man dpkg:

--get-selections [package-name-pattern...]
Get list of package selections, and write it to stdout. Without a
pattern, packages marked with state purge will not be shown.

So, in b) as you did not provide a pattern (*) you don't get the "purged"
ones :-?

Greetings,

--
Camaleón


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What is the difference?
 

Am Mittwoch, 9. März 2011 schrieb Camaleón:
> On Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:59:30 +0100, Hans-J. Ullrich wrote:
> > I wondered what is the difference between
> >
> > a) dpkg --get-selections "*" > mylist.txt and
> > b) dpkg --get-selections > mylist.txt
> >
> > I get different results, but the asterix is a joker, and the results
> > should be the same. The manual did not mention the asterix, and I
> > suppose (as many sites told using the asterix), option a) is orphaned.
> >
> > Am I correct?
>
> sm01@stt008:~$ dpkg --get-selections "*" > mylist.txt
> sm01@stt008:~$ dpkg --get-selections > mylist2.txt
> sm01@stt008:~$ diff mylist.txt mylist2.txt
> 791d790
> < popularity-contest purge
>
> man dpkg:
>
> --get-selections [package-name-pattern...]
> Get list of package selections, and write it to stdout. Without a
> pattern, packages marked with state purge will not be shown.
>
> So, in b) as you did not provide a pattern (*) you don't get the "purged"
> ones :-?
>
> Greetings,

Hmm, not quite. There are also packages in a), which are marked as installed,
but which are NOT installed and NOT purged. So I guess, the asterix must have
a special meaning.

Hans


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What is the difference?
 

On 2011-03-09 19:59 +0100, Hans-J. Ullrich wrote:

> I wondered what is the difference between
>
> a) dpkg --get-selections "*" > mylist.txt
> and
> b) dpkg --get-selections > mylist.txt

This is mentioned in the dpkg manpage:

,----
| --get-selections [package-name-pattern...]
| Get list of package selections, and write it to stdout. Without a
| pattern, non-installed packages (i.e. those which have been
| previously purged) will not be shown.
`----

> I get different results, but the asterix is a joker, and the results should be
> the same. The manual did not mention the asterix, and I suppose (as many sites
> told using the asterix), option a) is orphaned.

No, it's not. But since dpkg (as of version 1.15.4) no longer records
purged packages that are not marked for installation in the status file,
a) and b) will usually give the same results, AIUI.

> Am I correct?

I also get a difference. Version a) lists several additional packages
as "to be installed", some of which no longer exist. I wonder why
(maybe I have used inadvertently used dselect(1) as root?).

Sven


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What is the difference?
 

On 2011-03-09 20:24 +0100, Sven Joachim wrote:

> On 2011-03-09 19:59 +0100, Hans-J. Ullrich wrote:
>
>> I wondered what is the difference between
>>
>> a) dpkg --get-selections "*" > mylist.txt
>> and
>> b) dpkg --get-selections > mylist.txt
>
> This is mentioned in the dpkg manpage:
>
> ,----
> | --get-selections [package-name-pattern...]
> | Get list of package selections, and write it to stdout. Without a
> | pattern, non-installed packages (i.e. those which have been
> | previously purged) will not be shown.
> `----
>
>> I get different results, but the asterix is a joker, and the results should be
>> the same. The manual did not mention the asterix, and I suppose (as many sites
>> told using the asterix), option a) is orphaned.
>
> No, it's not. But since dpkg (as of version 1.15.4) no longer records
> purged packages that are not marked for installation in the status file,
> a) and b) will usually give the same results, AIUI.

That is, unless you _have_ marked currently purged packages for
installation, e.g. by selecting them in dselect or with
"dpkg --set-selections".

>> Am I correct?
>
> I also get a difference. Version a) lists several additional packages
> as "to be installed", some of which no longer exist. I wonder why
> (maybe I have used inadvertently used dselect(1) as root?).

After marking these packages for purge with "dpkg --set-selections",
there is no difference between a) and b) for me.

Sven


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What is the difference?
 

> |
> | Get list of package selections, and write it to stdout. Without a
> | pattern, non-installed packages (i.e. those which have been
> | previously purged) will not be shown.
>
Yes, of course I read this. But I thoughtm, the asterisk would mark ANY
pattern, and no asterisk means the same. So IMO both results should be the
same.
> ----

> I also get a difference. Version a) lists several additional packages
> as "to be installed", some of which no longer exist. I wonder why
> (maybe I have used inadvertently used dselect(1) as root?).
>
> Sven

It is not a great problem, but I wondered, why non-installed packages appeared
as to be installed. When I googled, most sites are pointing to version a) and
some to b). The correct version is b) --> dpkg --get-selections > mylist.txt,
(if you want, like me, ONLY installed packages). Maybe the manual should be
improved, to make it clear?

Have fun!

Hans



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