[Bug 955022] Re: "Not all updates can be installed" requires a decision most people can't make

[Matthew Paul Thomas]

It is good that Ubuntu's own archives have consistency measures to avoid
the problem. But they have never been the only source of Ubuntu
software, and since 11.04 they haven't even been the only source of
software available by default. We can apply the same checks to MyApps
and ARB packages, but as their velocity increases, we should also apply
defense in depth in case something slips through. Malicious packages can
always bork things, but it isn't necessary to present a user with a non-
understood choice in this alert box merely because an application
developer typed "Depends: glibfoo (=2.8)" when they meant "Depends:
glibfoo (>=2.8)".

For [3] above, I suggest that the design be roughly equivalent to the
"These applications conflict and must be removed" section I've sketched
for OS version upgrades. <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReleaseUpgrades#ready>

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/955022

Title:
  "Not all updates can be installed" requires a decision most people
  can't make

Status in “update-manager” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  In some situations, Update Manager presents a "Not all updates can be installed" alert box:
  ------------
  Not all updates can be installed

  Run a partial upgrade, to install as many updates as possible.

  This can be caused by:
  * A previous upgrade which didn't complete [1]
  * Problems with some of the installed software [2]
  * Unofficial software packages not provided by Ubuntu [3]
  * Normal changes of a pre-release version of Ubuntu [4]

  ( Partial Upgrade ) ( Close )
  ------------

  The problem is that except for alpha/beta testers [4], people can't
  reasonably be expected to know which of those four has happened, and
  whether it actually is a good idea to "run a partial upgrade". And if
  it is not a good idea, but they do it anyway, upgrading may leave the
  system unusable (bug 802991). We should detect which case has
  happened, and handle it automatically instead of putting up an alert
  box.

  For [1], detect it by setting a flag when an update starts and
  unsetting it when it finishes. For [2], detect it using aptdaemon. For
  both [1] and [2], repair it using aptdaemon's FixIncompleteInstall and
  FixBrokenDepends functions.

  For [3], distinguish between packages that were installed manually by
  themselves, and all other packages. For packages that were installed
  manually by themselves, present them as a list of applications and
  other things that will be removed by the update. For all other
  packages, remove them without comment.

  And for alpha/beta testers [4], disallow partial updates altogether
  (bug 430197).

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