Packaging syntax issue

[Snowhog]

For a little while now, when I update my system, a package warning is generated:

pkg: warning: version '/etc/lsb-release' has bad syntax: version number does not start with digit

It doesn't appear to create any problems with the updating itself, but I've been curious as to whether or not I should be concerned. Running version lsb-release shows:

lsb-release:
  Installed: 9.20170808ubuntu1
  Candidate: 9.20170808ubuntu1
  Version table:
 *** 9.20170808ubuntu1 500
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

[vinnywright]

for what it's worth , I get that as well and as you it seems to be no problem except for the warning .

VINNY

[Snowhog]

And as is obvious from the listings, lsb-release does start with a digit. My guess is that the package information file itself is the cause of the warning, but I would like to know for sure. Personally, I'd like the package maintainer to be aware of it.

[claydoh]

I have not seen this myself, but it is not a new bug.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...s/+bug/1597466
This has newer bug reports marked as dupes

[Snowhog]

Thank you.

In the linked bug report, post #19 seems to be at the root of the problem?

[COLOR=#333333][FONT=monospace]Also Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS here.[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#333333][FONT=monospace]I tracked down the issue to the plymouth-theme-kubuntu-text.postinst script:[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT=monospace]Comparing /var/lib/dpkg/info/plymouth-theme-ubuntu-text.postinst and /var/lib/dpkg/info/plymouth-theme-kubuntu-text.postinst we see that the first has:[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT=monospace]----------------------------------------
case "$1" in
    configure|triggered)
        if [ "$1" = "configure" ]; then
                # We remove leftover generated file from previous plymouth version. Can be removed on xenial+1
                if dpkg --compare-versions "$2" le-nl "0.9.2-3ubuntu1~"; then
                        rm -f /lib/plymouth/themes/ubuntu-text/ubuntu-text.plymouth
                fi
        fi
----------------------------------------[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT=monospace]while the second has:[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT=monospace]----------------------------------------
case "$1" in
    configure|triggered)
        # We remove leftover generated file from previous plymouth version. Can be removed on xenial+1
        if dpkg --compare-versions "$2" le-nl "1:16.04ubuntu1~"; then
            rm -f /lib/plymouth/themes/kubuntu-text/kubuntu-text.plymouth
        fi
----------------------------------------[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT=monospace]Notice the missing check for the "configure" argument. Also see [URL]http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/deb-postinst.5.html[/URL]:[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT=monospace]       postinst configure old-version
              After the package was installed.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT=monospace]       postinst triggered trigger-name...
              After the package was triggered.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT=monospace]The actual "bad syntax" message is then generated because
  dpkg --compare-versions "$2" le-nl "1:16.04ubuntu1~"
resolves to
  dpkg --compare-versions "/etc/lsb-release" le-nl "1:16.04ubuntu1~"
which is of course not what dpkg expects ("/etc/lsb-release" being the trigger-name)[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT=monospace]So the bug seems to be a missing check for "configure" in the kubuntu version of the plymouth-theme postinst script.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[GreyGeek]

Running a fully updated Kubuntu 18.04 and I am not seeing this error.