My testing of Debian upgrades from Lenny to Squeeze continues, and I've finally made the upgrade logs available from https://people.skolelinux.org/pere/debian-upgrade-testing/. I am now testing dist-upgrade of Gnome and KDE in a chroot using both apt and aptitude, and found their differences interesting. This time I will only focus on their removal plans.
After installing a Gnome desktop and the laptop task, apt-get wants to remove 72 packages when dist-upgrading from Lenny to Squeeze. The surprising part is that it want to remove xorg and all xserver-xorg-video* drivers. Clearly not a good choice, but I am not sure why. When asking aptitude to do the same, it want to remove 129 packages, but most of them are library packages I suspect are no longer needed. Both of them want to remove bluetooth packages, which I do not know. Perhaps these bluetooth packages are obsolete?
For KDE, apt-get want to remove 82 packages, among them kdebase which seem like a bad idea and xorg the same way as with Gnome. Asking aptitude for the same, it wants to remove 192 packages, none which are too surprising.
I guess the removal of xorg during upgrades should be investigated and avoided, and perhaps others as well. Here are the complete list of planned removals. The complete logs is available from the URL above. Note if you want to repeat these tests, that the upgrade test for kde+apt-get hung in the tasksel setup because of dpkg asking conffile questions. No idea why. I worked around it by using 'echo >> /proc/pidofdpkg/fd/0' to tell dpkg to continue.
apt-get gnome 72
bluez-gnome cupsddk-drivers deskbar-applet gnome
gnome-desktop-environment gnome-network-admin gtkhtml3.14
iceweasel-gnome-support libavcodec51 libdatrie0 libgdl-1-0
libgnomekbd2 libgnomekbdui2 libmetacity0 libslab0 libxcb-xlib0
nautilus-cd-burner python-gnome2-desktop python-gnome2-extras
serpentine swfdec-mozilla update-manager xorg xserver-xorg
xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev
xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse
xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-wacom
xserver-xorg-video-all xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark
xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-chips
xserver-xorg-video-cirrus xserver-xorg-video-cyrix
xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev
xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128
xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-imstt
xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-mach64
xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-nv
xserver-xorg-video-openchrome xserver-xorg-video-r128
xserver-xorg-video-radeon xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd
xserver-xorg-video-rendition xserver-xorg-video-s3
xserver-xorg-video-s3virge xserver-xorg-video-savage
xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion xserver-xorg-video-sis
xserver-xorg-video-sisusb xserver-xorg-video-tdfx
xserver-xorg-video-tga xserver-xorg-video-trident
xserver-xorg-video-tseng xserver-xorg-video-v4l
xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vga
xserver-xorg-video-vmware xserver-xorg-video-voodoo xulrunner-1.9
xulrunner-1.9-gnome-support
aptitude gnome 129
bluez-gnome bluez-utils cpp-4.3 cupsddk-drivers dhcdbd
djvulibre-desktop finger gnome-app-install gnome-mount
gnome-network-admin gnome-spell gnome-vfs-obexftp
gnome-volume-manager gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs gtkhtml3.14 libao2
libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-core5 libavcodec51 libbluetooth2
libcamel1.2-11 libcdio7 libcucul0 libcupsys2 libcurl3 libdatrie0
libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdvdread3 libedataserver1.2-9 libeel2-2.20
libeel2-data libepc-1.0-1 libepc-ui-1.0-1 libfaad0 libgail-common
libgd2-noxpm libgda3-3 libgda3-common libgdl-1-0 libgdl-1-common
libggz2 libggzcore9 libggzmod4 libgksu1.2-0 libgksuui1.0-1 libgmyth0
libgnomecups1.0-1 libgnomekbd2 libgnomekbdui2 libgnomeprint2.2-0
libgnomeprint2.2-data libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgnomeprintui2.2-common
libgnomevfs2-bin libgpod3 libgraphviz4 libgtkhtml2-0
libgtksourceview-common libgtksourceview1.0-0 libgucharmap6
libhesiod0 libicu38 libiw29 libkpathsea4 libltdl3 libmagick++10
libmagick10 libmalaga7 libmetacity0 libmtp7 libmysqlclient15off
libnautilus-burn4 libneon27 libnm-glib0 libnm-util0 libopal-2.2
libosp5 libparted1.8-10 libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler3 libpt-1.10.10
libpt-1.10.10-plugins-alsa libpt-1.10.10-plugins-v4l libraw1394-8
libsensors3 libslab0 libsmbios2 libsoup2.2-8 libssh2-1
libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libswfdec-0.6-90 libtalloc1 libtotem-plparser10
libtrackerclient0 libxalan2-java libxalan2-java-gcj libxcb-xlib0
libxerces2-java libxerces2-java-gcj libxklavier12 libxtrap6
libxxf86misc1 libzephyr3 mysql-common nautilus-cd-burner
openoffice.org-writer2latex openssl-blacklist p7zip
python-4suite-xml python-eggtrayicon python-gnome2-desktop
python-gnome2-extras python-gtkhtml2 python-gtkmozembed
python-numeric python-sexy serpentine svgalibg1 swfdec-gnome
swfdec-mozilla totem-gstreamer update-manager wodim
xserver-xorg-video-cyrix xserver-xorg-video-imstt
xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-v4l xserver-xorg-video-vga
zip
apt-get kde 82
cupsddk-drivers karm kaudiocreator kcoloredit kcontrol kde kde-core
kdeaddons kdeartwork kdebase kdebase-bin kdebase-bin-kde3
kdebase-kio-plugins kdesktop kdeutils khelpcenter kicker
kicker-applets knewsticker kolourpaint konq-plugins konqueror korn
kpersonalizer kscreensaver ksplash libavcodec51 libdatrie0 libkiten1
libxcb-xlib0 quanta superkaramba texlive-base-bin xorg xserver-xorg
xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev
xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse
xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-wacom
xserver-xorg-video-all xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark
xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-chips
xserver-xorg-video-cirrus xserver-xorg-video-cyrix
xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev
xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128
xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-imstt
xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-mach64
xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-nv
xserver-xorg-video-openchrome xserver-xorg-video-r128
xserver-xorg-video-radeon xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd
xserver-xorg-video-rendition xserver-xorg-video-s3
xserver-xorg-video-s3virge xserver-xorg-video-savage
xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion xserver-xorg-video-sis
xserver-xorg-video-sisusb xserver-xorg-video-tdfx
xserver-xorg-video-tga xserver-xorg-video-trident
xserver-xorg-video-tseng xserver-xorg-video-v4l
xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vga
xserver-xorg-video-vmware xserver-xorg-video-voodoo xulrunner-1.9
aptitude kde 192
bluez-utils cpp-4.3 cupsddk-drivers cvs dcoprss dhcdbd
djvulibre-desktop dosfstools eyesapplet fifteenapplet finger gettext
ghostscript-x imlib-base imlib11 indi kandy karm kasteroids
kaudiocreator kbackgammon kbstate kcoloredit kcontrol kcron kdat
kdeadmin-kfile-plugins kdeartwork-misc kdeartwork-theme-window
kdebase-bin-kde3 kdebase-kio-plugins kdeedu-data
kdegraphics-kfile-plugins kdelirc kdemultimedia-kappfinder-data
kdemultimedia-kfile-plugins kdenetwork-kfile-plugins
kdepim-kfile-plugins kdepim-kio-plugins kdeprint kdesktop kdessh
kdict kdnssd kdvi kedit keduca kenolaba kfax kfaxview kfouleggs
kghostview khelpcenter khexedit kiconedit kitchensync klatin
klickety kmailcvt kmenuedit kmid kmilo kmoon kmrml kodo kolourpaint
kooka korn kpager kpdf kpercentage kpf kpilot kpoker kpovmodeler
krec kregexpeditor ksayit ksim ksirc ksirtet ksmiletris ksmserver
ksnake ksokoban ksplash ksvg ksysv ktip ktnef kuickshow kverbos
kview kviewshell kvoctrain kwifimanager kwin kwin4 kworldclock
kxsldbg libakode2 libao2 libarts1-akode libarts1-audiofile
libarts1-mpeglib libarts1-xine libavahi-compat-libdnssd1
libavahi-core5 libavc1394-0 libavcodec51 libbluetooth2
libboost-python1.34.1 libcucul0 libcurl3 libcvsservice0 libdatrie0
libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdjvulibre21 libdvdread3 libfaad0 libfreebob0
libgail-common libgd2-noxpm libgraphviz4 libgsmme1c2a libgtkhtml2-0
libicu38 libiec61883-0 libindex0 libiw29 libk3b3 libkcal2b libkcddb1
libkdeedu3 libkdepim1a libkgantt0 libkiten1 libkleopatra1 libkmime2
libkpathsea4 libkpimexchange1 libkpimidentities1 libkscan1
libksieve0 libktnef1 liblockdev1 libltdl3 libmagick10 libmimelib1c2a
libmozjs1d libmpcdec3 libneon27 libnm-util0 libopensync0 libpisock9
libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler-qt2 libpoppler3 libraw1394-8 libsmbios2
libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libtalloc1 libtiff-tools
libxalan2-java libxalan2-java-gcj libxcb-xlib0 libxerces2-java
libxerces2-java-gcj libxtrap6 mpeglib networkstatus
openoffice.org-writer2latex pmount poster psutils quanta quanta-data
superkaramba svgalibg1 tex-common texlive-base texlive-base-bin
texlive-common texlive-doc-base texlive-fonts-recommended
xserver-xorg-video-cyrix xserver-xorg-video-imstt
xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-v4l xserver-xorg-video-vga
xulrunner-1.9