[Bash-completion-devel] Bug#491457: bash-completion: trying to overwrite `/etc/bash_completion', which is also in package bash

[Tim Connors]

On Thu, 24 Jul 2008, Luk Claes wrote:

> tags 491457 +unreproducible
> thanks
>
> On Sun, Jul 20, 2008 at 01:37:55AM +1000, Tim Connors wrote:
> > Package: bash-completion
> > Version: 20080705
>
> > I have two systems running sid which couldn't install the latest
> > bash-completion, with:
> >
> > > sudo apt-get install bash
>
> > The following extra packages will be installed:
> >   bash-completion
> > The following NEW packages will be installed:
> >   bash-completion
> > 0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 18 not upgraded.
>
> > Unpacking bash-completion (from .../bash-completion_20080705_all.deb) ...
> > dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/bash-completion_20080705_all.deb (--unpack):
> >  trying to overwrite `/etc/bash_completion', which is also in package bash
> > dpkg-deb: subprocess paste killed by signal (Broken pipe)
> > Errors were encountered while processing:
> >  /var/cache/apt/archives/bash-completion_20080705_all.deb
> > E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
> >
> > One of them seemed to fix itself when I did a purge of
> > bash_completion, and then reinstalled the same latest version in sid.
> > The other hasn't.  I just tracked it down to it still being listed as
> > a conffile in /var/lib/dpkg/status for the bash package.  Should there
> > be a method in one of the packages to clear the conffile status from
> > the bash package and let bash-completion take it over?
>
> There is no way to clear the conffile status of the file, though dpkg
> recognises that the conffile status is obsolete when I try to install
> bash-completion when latest bash is installed which succeeds without any
> errors.

Maybe related to me having manually edited bash_completion in the past.

> Does /var/lib/dpkg/bash.conffiles and /var/lib/dpkg/bash.list or one of
> them include /etc/bash_completion?

I ended up manually removing bash_completion and reinstalling both bash
and bash_completion so can't test this now.

> Apparently something went wrong before the above installation try as it
> mentions '81 not fully installed or removed.', might that be related?

That would be because I was trying repeatedly to convince it to install
bash-completion.  Apt thinks there is no conflict, upgrades bash, tries to
upgrade bash-completion, causing dpkg to barf, causing it to recognise
that it hasn't been fully installed or removed next time.

-- 
TimC
MacOSX: Sort of like a pedigree persian cat. Very sleek, very
sexy, but a little too prone to going cross-eyed, biting you on
your thumb and then throwing up on your trousers. -- Jim in ASR