pkcon update issue

[Snowhog]

This isn't anything more than a visual annoyance, but....

Running sudo pkcon update and answering 'y' to the prompt, the listing status of the packages being updated doesn't start below the prompt; it jumps up to the "The following packages have to be updated:", overwriting that line, and begins reporting it's actions. This is, visually, unpleasing. The display of the actions following the "Proceed with changes? [N/y]" response should begin below that line. That it isn't is simply poor programing.

[claydoh]

I don't think this really was ever meant for human eyes, tbh. Not formatted for sml terminal windows, like I have seen in some implementations of MC. It probably is up to the distro to fix that, and of course Ubuntu does not make everyday use of it

i used to see that, but I was using a small-sh yakauke drop-down. I don't see it nowadays, with my slightly larger window, though there is some line wrapping oddities with the longer repo urls.


I just use apt. The only reason they went with pkcon was the rather large number of non-Ubuntu users getting apt upgrade and full-upgrade confused. Plus pkcon/Discover works on any 'style' of distro that uses packagekit..

[chimak111]

I saw something similar a while ago: https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...konsole-output

I stay with apt update and apt full-upgrade.

[Snowhog]

Hmm. I started using pkcon with KDE neon because their FAQ states:

How do I Update to the Latest Software? 🔗

KDE neon does continuous deployment of the latest KDE software which means there are nearly always new versions of our software to update to. We recommend using Plasma Discover's updater which appears in your panel:
If you prefer to use the command line you can use the pkcon command:

• pkcon refresh
• pkcon update

This will install all new packages and uses the same PackageKit code as Plasma Discover. Some uses of apt do not install new packages which makes it less suitable for KDE neon.

(Emphasis added)

[claydoh]

Some uses of apt do not install new packages which makes it less suitable for KDE neon.

Yup. It seemed almost a daily occurrence that someone was using the Debian apt upgrade and not getting all the packages, and going to irc or KDE forums about it.

[Snowhog]

So when they stated "Some uses of apt do not install new packages which makes it less suitable for KDE neon.", they weren't actually referring to apt itself, but to less than knowledgable users using apt | apt-get upgrade instead of apt full-upgrade | apt-get dist-upgrade. The '...less suitable for KDE neon.' lead me to believe that using apt period wasn't recommended/endorsed.

[chimak111]

BTW, KDE neon blocks the use of apt upgrade but allows apt full-upgrade: https://unix.stackexchange.com/quest...f-pkcon-in-kde

On KDE neon you should use `pkcon update` to install updates.
If you absolutely must use apt you do have to use dist-upgrade or full-upgrade in place of the upgrade command. [...]
Abort.

[claydoh]

So when they stated "Some uses of apt do not install new packages which makes it less suitable for KDE neon.", they weren't actually referring to apt itself, but to less than knowledgable users using apt | apt-get upgrade instead of apt full-upgrade | apt-get dist-upgrade.

Correct

The '...less suitable for KDE neon.' lead me to believe that using apt period wasn't recommended/endorsed.

Well, officially, they don't recommend apt, but I don't know how 'official' it is.,
This seems to be for updating only, though it is not specified. If there is a package issue, it still is an apt and/or dpkg thing as of course, packagekit is still ultimately using this for the actual work, so the errors are all the familiar ones we see, with the same fixes.

Clear as mud, as usual.

[Snowhog]

"Clear as mud, as usual."

hehe

The problem (I think/believe) with a lot of programmers writing anything other than code, is that they look at what they wrote and say: "I know what that means.", even if others (users|non-programmers) might not.

[claydoh]

BTW, KDE neon blocks the use of apt upgrade but allows apt full-upgrade: https://unix.stackexchange.com/quest...f-pkcon-in-kde

On KDE neon you should use `pkcon update` to install updates.
If you absolutely must use apt you do have to use dist-upgrade or full-upgrade in place of the upgrade command. [...]
Abort.

Yeah, we discovered that not too long ago

https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post427620

[SpecialEd]

I think I read recently that when it comes to pkcon, sudo is not necessary as "pkcon knows when to ask for a password."

[claydoh]

I think I read recently that when it comes to pkcon, sudo is not necessary as "pkcon knows when to ask for a password."

Correct!

[chimak111]

Yeah, we discovered that not too long ago

https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post427620

Thanks for the link! It's nice to know the rationale

[oshunluvr]

This appears to be fixed or at least I'm not seeing it here using KDEneon User Edition.

packagekit-tools 1.1.9-1ubuntu2.18.04.5

[FONT=monospace][COLOR=#54FF54][B]stuart@office[/B][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]:[/COLOR][COLOR=#54FFFF][B]~[/B][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]$ pkcon update[/COLOR]
Getting updates               [=========================]          
Finished                      [=========================]          
Loading cache                 [=========================]          
Testing changes               [=========================]          
Finished                      [                         ] (0%)   
The following packages have to be updated:
 binutils-2.30-21ubuntu1~18.04.2.amd64  GNU assembler, linker and binary utilities
 binutils-common-2.30-21ubuntu1~18.04.2.amd64   Common files for the GNU assembler, linker and binary utilities
 binutils-x86-64-linux-gnu-2.30-21ubuntu1~18.04.2.amd64 GNU binary utilities, for x86-64-linux-gnu target
 cpp-4:7.4.0-1ubuntu2.3.amd64   GNU C preprocessor (cpp)
 g++-4:7.4.0-1ubuntu2.3.amd64   GNU C++ compiler
 gcc-4:7.4.0-1ubuntu2.3.amd64   GNU C compiler
 google-chrome-stable-75.0.3770.90-1.amd64      The web browser from Google
 libbinutils-2.30-21ubuntu1~18.04.2.amd64       GNU binary utilities (private shared library)
Proceed with changes? [N/y] y

                              [=========================]          
Updating packages             [=========================]          
Waiting for authentication    [=========================]          
Loading cache                 [=========================]          
Downloading packages          [=========================]          
Running                       [           ==            ]         org.kde.debconf:  
                              [=========================]          
Installing packages           [=========================]          
Finished                      [=========================]      
[/FONT]

[Snowhog]

Are you running the commands in a full-screen terminal, or a sized terminal? I've been using a much less than full-sized konsole window. Next time I'll make it full-screen before running the commands and see if that 'makes the difference'.