[Bug 1479207] [NEW] Never-MarkAuto-Sections not working correctly

[Adam Conrad]

Public bug reported:

In current trusty, vivid, and wily, when you install ubuntu-minimal
(from the "metapackages" section) in a clean chroot, some 75ish packages
are installed.  If you then "apt-get --purge autoremove ubuntu-minimal",
some large portion (between 20 and 40, depending on the target release)
of those dependencies are removed again.

If this test is repeated putting the release pocket version of
apt/libapt on hold, the purge/autoremove only removes the metapackage,
but none of its dependencies, so this is likely a regression brought on
from the previous autoremoval fix.

This bug is release-critical for the 14.04.3 point release, as we
install using metapackages instead of tasks in point releases, thus
meaning that anyone removing ubuntu-desktop for any reason will end up
with dozens (potentially hundreds) of packages on the autoremoval list.

** Affects: apt (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
     Assignee: Michael Vogt (mvo)
         Status: New

** Affects: apt (Ubuntu Trusty)
     Importance: Critical
     Assignee: Michael Vogt (mvo)
         Status: New

** Affects: apt (Ubuntu Vivid)
     Importance: Undecided
     Assignee: Michael Vogt (mvo)
         Status: New

** Also affects: apt (Ubuntu Vivid)
   Importance: Undecided
       Status: New

** Also affects: apt (Ubuntu Trusty)
   Importance: Undecided
       Status: New

** Changed in: apt (Ubuntu Trusty)
    Milestone: None => ubuntu-14.04.3

** Changed in: apt (Ubuntu Trusty)
     Assignee: (unassigned) => Michael Vogt (mvo)

** Changed in: apt (Ubuntu)
     Assignee: (unassigned) => Michael Vogt (mvo)

** Changed in: apt (Ubuntu Vivid)
     Assignee: (unassigned) => Michael Vogt (mvo)

** Changed in: apt (Ubuntu Trusty)
   Importance: Undecided => Critical

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1479207

Title:
  Never-MarkAuto-Sections not working correctly

Status in apt package in Ubuntu:
  New
Status in apt source package in Trusty:
  New
Status in apt source package in Vivid:
  New

Bug description:
  In current trusty, vivid, and wily, when you install ubuntu-minimal
  (from the "metapackages" section) in a clean chroot, some 75ish
  packages are installed.  If you then "apt-get --purge autoremove
  ubuntu-minimal", some large portion (between 20 and 40, depending on
  the target release) of those dependencies are removed again.

  If this test is repeated putting the release pocket version of
  apt/libapt on hold, the purge/autoremove only removes the metapackage,
  but none of its dependencies, so this is likely a regression brought
  on from the previous autoremoval fix.

  This bug is release-critical for the 14.04.3 point release, as we
  install using metapackages instead of tasks in point releases, thus
  meaning that anyone removing ubuntu-desktop for any reason will end up
  with dozens (potentially hundreds) of packages on the autoremoval
  list.

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