Hi Bill,
On Sun July 14 2024 13:15:02 William Morder via tde-users wrote:
I used dpkg to purge all the apt-* type packages in my system, to wit:
Not recommended. TTBOMK only your apt package is broken.
sudo dpkg --purge --force-all apt-transport-https apt-utils apt-file_3.3_all apt-mirror_0.5.4-2_all apt-transport-https_2.6.1devuan1_all apt-utils_2.6.1devuan1_amd64 apt_2.6.1devuan1_amd64 aptitude-common_0.8.13-5_all aptitude_0.8.13-5_amd64 devuan-apt-mirror-config-override_2.6_all dpkg-repack_1.52_all libapt-pkg-perl_0.1.40+b2_amd64 synaptic_0.91.3_amd64 apt_2.6.1devuan1_amd64
Many of those are partial file names, not package names, so I don't know how much it actually did.
Then I figured that I would reinstall them one-at-a-time, using dpkg, or moving to apt, aptitude, whatever, to finish up.
I already had the package you named, but I thought, well, let's download a fresh one, just to be sure mine isn't corrupt. Now ... mind you ... I had already purged the old package from my system. Yet when I tried to reinstall apt-utils_2.6.1devuan1_amd64, I get this message:
dpkg: version 2.6.1devuan1 of apt already installed, skipping
Probably because your purge was told to purge apt_2.6.1devuan1_amd64 which is not a package name.
So, it is uninstalled, yet it is also already installed? There must be some traces left in the system that makes dpkg say it is already installed. Maybe this is a clue; maybe even a useful clue.
"dpkg -l | grep apt | cut -b-78" will tell us where things stand.
--Mike