[Bug 1565782] Re: APT doesn't respect pin-priority when using APT::Default-Release option

[Niklas Holm]

> This is a feature, so you can pin a release (like backports) to a low
value, but raise it easily if you need to.

I know, except in this case it actually _lowers_ the value.

> It is also explicitly documented in the apt_preferences manpage, which
also mentions a "workaround": Note that this [= the target release
setting] has precedence over any general priority you set in the
/etc/apt/preferences file described later, but not over specifically
pinned packages.

Ok, but specifically naming all packages I want to pin is very
inconvenient if I want it to apply to all packages in that PPA.

It seems to me you simply dismissed my report without trying to
understand my use case. If this is indeed "a feature", imho it's
problematic and should be discussed. Is there any good reason why the
target release setting should lower the priority of a package? The
intuitive thing would be that the priority never gets set below the
manually specified value.

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Title:
  APT doesn't respect pin-priority when using APT::Default-Release
  option

Status in apt package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid

Bug description:
  I'm trying to pin packages from the proprietary graphics drivers PPA,
  and I want APT to use this PPA even if a newer version is available in
  a target release, so I put it at a pin-priority of 999

  --- /etc/apt/preferences.d/graphics-drivers-ppa-pin-999
  Package: *
  Pin: release o=LP-PPA-graphics-drivers
  Pin-Priority: 999
  ---

  If I test this with 'apt-cache policy', the priorities seems to be
  correct.

  ---
  $ apt-cache policy nvidia-346
  nvidia-346:
    Installerad: 346.96-0ubuntu0~gpu14.04.2
    Kandidat:    346.96-0ubuntu0~gpu14.04.2
    Versionstabell:
       352.63-0ubuntu0.14.04.1 0
          500 http://se.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates/restricted amd64 Packages
          500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-security/restricted amd64 Packages
   *** 346.96-0ubuntu0~gpu14.04.2 0
          999 http://ppa.launchpad.net/graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
          100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
  ---

  But if I use the 'APT::Default-Release' configuration option, the
  priority gets lowered to 990, resulting in the wrong candidate.

  ---
  $ apt-cache -o 'APT::Default-Release=trusty' policy nvidia-346
  nvidia-346:
    Installerad: 346.96-0ubuntu0~gpu14.04.2
    Kandidat:    352.63-0ubuntu0.14.04.1
    Versionstabell:
       352.63-0ubuntu0.14.04.1 0
          990 http://se.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates/restricted amd64 Packages
          990 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-security/restricted amd64 Packages
   *** 346.96-0ubuntu0~gpu14.04.2 0
          990 http://ppa.launchpad.net/graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
          100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
  ---

  The same thing happens when using apt-get/aptitude's '-t' flag, i.e.
  the wrong version gets marked for installation. It seems the policy
  engine sets the priority to 990 if the package matches the target
  release, regardless of the previous (higher) value. I think this
  behavior is a bug and should be fixed so that a certain package's
  priority doesn't get lowered for belonging to the target release.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
  Package: apt 1.0.1ubuntu2.11
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-83.127-generic 3.13.11-ckt35
  Uname: Linux 3.13.0-83-generic x86_64
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
  ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.19
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Mon Apr  4 14:11:26 2016
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-08-08 (605 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2)
  ProcEnviron:
   TERM=xterm-256color
   SHELL=/bin/bash
   PATH=(custom, user)
   LANG=sv_SE.UTF-8
   XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
  SourcePackage: apt
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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