Install of package from Experimental? - was installing GRASS7

[Zenaan Harkness]

On 6/30/15, Jochen Spieker <ml at well-adjusted.de> wrote:
> Zenaan Harkness:
>> apt-get update
>> apt-get -t experimental install grass-core grass-gui
>>
>> First it failed,
>
> How? That's the most interesting information that you could have
> provided (except for the commands you were running).

I didn't have the xterm still available after trying to install grass6
after the failure. OK, uninstalling all grass6 packages, and trying
again:

$ sudo apt-get remove grass grass-core grass-doc grass-gui
... done ...

$ sudo apt-get -t experimental install grass-core grass-gui
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Suggested packages:
  grass-doc grass-dev gnuplot gpsbabel gpstrans python-rpy2 xml2
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  grass-core grass-gui
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 6 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/9,158 kB of archives.
After this operation, 41.0 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Selecting previously unselected package grass-core.
(Reading database ... 304455 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../grass-core_6.4.4-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking grass-core (6.4.4-1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package grass-gui.
Preparing to unpack .../grass-gui_6.4.4-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking grass-gui (6.4.4-1) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.13-1) ...
Processing triggers for menu (2.1.47) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.0.2-5) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.58) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.22-1) ...
Setting up grass-core (6.4.4-1) ...
Setting up grass-gui (6.4.4-1) ...
Processing triggers for menu (2.1.47) ...

$ grass --version
GRASS GIS 6.4.4
cat: /usr/lib/grass64/etc/license: No such file or directory

This time, no error or "non-action", but installation of grass 6
instead. I guess experimental is firmly guarded against by apt, in
Debian stable?


>> Now when I try:
>> apt-get -t experimental install grass-core grass-gui
>> I get the following output:
>> Reading package lists... Done
>> Building dependency tree
>> Reading state information... Done
>> grass-core is already the newest version.
>> grass-gui is already the newest version.
>> 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 6 not upgraded.
>
> Apt is telling you that it thinks there is no more recent version of
> grass-gui and grass-core than the ones you already have installed. You
> can use 'apt-cache policy grass-gui' to get a list of versions that apt
> knows about and what it thinks about them. Please post the output.

$ apt-cache policy grass-gui
grass-gui:
  Installed: 6.4.4-1
  Candidate: 6.4.4-1
  Version table:
     7.0.0-1~exp1+b1 0
          1 http://ftp.au.debian.org/debian/ experimental/main amd64 Packages
 *** 6.4.4-1 0
       1001 file:/public/debian/debian/ jessie/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status


>> Can anyone help here - I'd really like to start on GRASS7, if possible
>> (on Debian stable - would that normally be a "backport" or an
>> "update"?).
>
> Well, if there is a backport of GRASS7 for stable, you would find it
> here: http://packages.debiam.org/grass-core

Thanks.


> You should never attempt to install something from experimental on a
> stable system.

True, and I ought know better - at least to put it in a chroot. I've
had a recommendation to just compile from source, so I may do that...


> That is not asking for trouble, that's begging for it. If

:)

> you need to install something from experimental, use a separate
> installation (possibly in a VM) using Debian sid. And even then you
> cannot count on anything from experimental to be useful for anything.
> It's mostly a playground for Debian Developers.

debootstrap has a sid template, and I have a local Debian mirror, so
would you recommend a sid chroot, or just compile grass7 from source?

Thanks heaps,
Zenaan