[Bug 512190] Re: "apt-get --ignore-missing install" fails when it can't find a package

[Daniel Hartwig]

It is clear from the man page that ‘--ignore-missing’ is intended only
for packages that exist but fail to download correctly or can not be
downloaded at the time.  Requesting a package that does not exist is
well outside the scope of this option and is an unsafe operation to
simply ignore.

The former is typically due to transient network errors that clear up in
a short time.  The later is a seriously broken request.

** Changed in: apt (Ubuntu)
       Status: Confirmed => Opinion

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/512190

Title:
  "apt-get --ignore-missing install" fails when it can't find a package

Status in “apt” package in Ubuntu:
  Opinion

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: apt

  I have a script for configuring Ubuntu after installation.  I'd like
  to be able to run one apt-get command to download and install all the
  packages I normally use.  Unfortunately, the availability of a package
  varies over time and release.  Upon reviewing the manpages, it appears
  that "--ignore-missing" should do what I want, but it still causes
  apt-get to fail:

  sudo apt-get --ignore-missing install kdvi; echo $?
  Reading package lists... Done
  Building dependency tree
  Reading state information... Done
  E: Couldn't find package kdvi
  100

  Now, I could loop and run "apt-get install" for every package,
  ignoring the exit codes, but that doesn't seem to be the way apt-get
  is supposed to be used.

  If --ignore-missing does something other than what I want, the manual
  pages need to make clear exactly what it does.  Furthermore it seems
  reasonable to request an option to allow apt-get to proceed even if it
  doesn't find all the requested packages - failing to install ANY of
  the specified packages when one isn't present seems to be the wrong
  behavior in this context.

  ProblemType: Bug
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Sun Jan 24 21:31:21 2010
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
  Package: apt 0.7.23.1ubuntu2
  ProcEnviron:
   LANGUAGE=
   PATH=(custom, user)
   LANG=C
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-17.54-generic
  SourcePackage: apt
  Uname: Linux 2.6.31-17-generic x86_64

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