[Bug 1837300] [NEW] /usr/bin/locale-check is missing from bionic LTS versions

[Tony Lykke]

Public bug reported:

After downgrading from 19.04 to 18.04 (which involved a bunch of `apt
remove --purge` and manual dependency conflict resolution) I had the
following error on logging into my machine:

```
bash: /usr/bin/locale-check: No such file or directory
```

On investigation, it seems that this file is supposed to be provided by
`base-files`, but it is not present in the two current LTS versions
(10.1ubuntu2 and 10.2ubuntu2.2).

```
tl at hotbox:~$ apt download base-files=10.1ubuntu2
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 base-files amd64 10.1ubuntu2 [58.2 kB]
Fetched 58.2 kB in 0s (1,000 kB/s)
tl at hotbox:~$ apt download base-files=10.1ubuntu2.2
Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security/main amd64 base-files amd64 10.1ubuntu2.2 [58.2 kB]
Fetched 58.2 kB in 0s (189 kB/s)
tl at hotbox:~$ dpkg -c base-files_10.1ubuntu2_amd64.deb | rg "/usr/bin"
drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 2018-04-24 04:34 ./usr/bin/
tl at hotbox:~$ dpkg -c base-files_10.1ubuntu2.2_amd64.deb | rg "/usr/bin"
drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 2018-08-20 09:44 ./usr/bin/
```

It is present in `bionic-updates` which is currently `10.1ubuntu2.5`,
however.

The reason I think this happened to this system in particular is that as
part of the dist-downgrade process I added the following to
`/etc/apt/preferences`:

```
Package: *
Pin: release a=bionic
Pin-Priority: 1001
```

This appears to have prevented me from getting `bionic-updates`.
Removing this file allows apt to install `base-files` from `bionic-
updates` and resolved the issue for me.

** Affects: base-files (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

-- 
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1837300

Title:
  /usr/bin/locale-check is missing from bionic LTS versions

Status in base-files package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  After downgrading from 19.04 to 18.04 (which involved a bunch of `apt
  remove --purge` and manual dependency conflict resolution) I had the
  following error on logging into my machine:

  ```
  bash: /usr/bin/locale-check: No such file or directory
  ```

  On investigation, it seems that this file is supposed to be provided
  by `base-files`, but it is not present in the two current LTS versions
  (10.1ubuntu2 and 10.2ubuntu2.2).

  ```
  tl at hotbox:~$ apt download base-files=10.1ubuntu2
  Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 base-files amd64 10.1ubuntu2 [58.2 kB]
  Fetched 58.2 kB in 0s (1,000 kB/s)
  tl at hotbox:~$ apt download base-files=10.1ubuntu2.2
  Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security/main amd64 base-files amd64 10.1ubuntu2.2 [58.2 kB]
  Fetched 58.2 kB in 0s (189 kB/s)
  tl at hotbox:~$ dpkg -c base-files_10.1ubuntu2_amd64.deb | rg "/usr/bin"
  drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 2018-04-24 04:34 ./usr/bin/
  tl at hotbox:~$ dpkg -c base-files_10.1ubuntu2.2_amd64.deb | rg "/usr/bin"
  drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 2018-08-20 09:44 ./usr/bin/
  ```

  It is present in `bionic-updates` which is currently `10.1ubuntu2.5`,
  however.

  The reason I think this happened to this system in particular is that
  as part of the dist-downgrade process I added the following to
  `/etc/apt/preferences`:

  ```
  Package: *
  Pin: release a=bionic
  Pin-Priority: 1001
  ```

  This appears to have prevented me from getting `bionic-updates`.
  Removing this file allows apt to install `base-files` from `bionic-
  updates` and resolved the issue for me.

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