Debian bug report logs - #1503, boring messages

Subject: Bug#1503: How to remove fvwmr5
Reply-To: Erick Branderhorst <branderhorst@fgg.eur.nl>, debian-bugs@pixar.com
Resent-From: Erick Branderhorst <branderhorst@fgg.eur.nl>
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From: Erick Branderhorst <branderhorst@fgg.eur.nl>
To: debian-bugs@pixar.com
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 95 14:13:36 MET
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Package: fvwmR5
Version: 1.24r-
Libc: libc.so.4.6.27
Kernel etc: Linux eb 1.2.10 #1 Tue Jun 13 18:37:28 EST 1995 i486
Reporter: repair 0.1
Subject: How to deinstall fvwmR5

I tried the following commands but no luck.
Erick

# dpkg --list | grep fvwmR5
# dpkg --status fvwmR5
# dpkg --remove fvwmR5
# dpkg --force-hold --remove fvwmR5

# dpkg --list | grep fvwmR5
rHh fvwmR5           1.24r 3    the fvwm window manager for X11R5

# dpkg --status fvwmR5
Package: fvwmR5
Status: deinstall hold half-installed
Maintainer: Helmut Geyer, Helmut.Geyer@iwr.uni-heidelberg.de
Version: 1.24r
Revision: 3
Depends: xbaseR5 | xr5shlib, xpmR5
Recommends: pixmapR5
Conflicts: fvwmR6, xpmR6, xpm
Conffiles:
 /etc/X11/fvwm/system.fvwmrc newconffile
Description: the fvwm window manager for X11R5

# dpkg --remove fvwmR5
Package fvwmR5 is on hold, not touching it.  Use --force-hold to override.

# dpkg --force-hold --remove fvwmR5
Package fvwmR5 was on hold, processing it anyway as you request
(Reading database ... 17072 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing fvwmR5 ...
rm: fvwm: No such file or directory
dpkg: error processing fvwmR5 (--remove):
 subprocess post-removal script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 fvwmR5

From: iwj10@thor.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson)
To: Erick Branderhorst <branderhorst@fgg.eur.nl>
Subject: Bug#1503: Acknowledgement (was: How to remove fvwmr5)
In-Reply-To: <9509281311.AA15286@mailgate.eur.nl>
References: <9509281311.AA15286@mailgate.eur.nl>

Thank you for the problem report you have sent regarding Debian GNU/Linux.
This is an automatically generated reply, to let you know your message has
been received.  It is being forwarded to the developers' mailing list for
their attention; they will reply in due course.

If you wish to submit further information on your problem, please send
it to debian-bugs@pixar.com, but please ensure that the Subject
line of your message starts with "Bug#1503" or "Re: Bug#1503" so that
we can identify it as relating to the same problem.

Please do not reply to the address at the top of this message,
unless you wish to report a problem with the bug-tracking system.

Ian Jackson
(maintainer, debian-bugs)

Subject: Bug#1503: How to remove fvwmr5
Reply-To: Ian Jackson <iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk>, debian-bugs@pixar.com
Resent-From: Ian Jackson <iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk>
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Message-Id: <m0syUPq-0002YOZ@chiark.al.cl.cam.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 95 02:39 BST
From: Ian Jackson <iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk>
To: debian-bugs@pixar.com

Erick Branderhorst writes ("Bug#1503: How to remove fvwmr5"):
> Package: fvwmR5
> Version: 1.24r-
> Libc: libc.so.4.6.27
> Kernel etc: Linux eb 1.2.10 #1 Tue Jun 13 18:37:28 EST 1995 i486
> Reporter: repair 0.1
> Subject: How to deinstall fvwmR5
>
> I tried the following commands but no luck.
>
> # dpkg --list | grep fvwmR5
> # dpkg --status fvwmR5
> # dpkg --remove fvwmR5
> # dpkg --force-hold --remove fvwmR5

There is a bug in the fvwmR5 package which makes it try to delete
/usr/doc/copyright/fvwm, and which makes the package removal fail if
the file doesn't exist.

There are at least three ways to solve this:

1)   # touch /usr/doc/copyright/fvwm
     # dpkg --remove fvmwR5
     # touch /usr/doc/copyright/fvwm
     # dpkg --purge fvmwR5

2)   # rm /var/lib/dpkg/fvwmR5.postrm
     # dpkg --purge fvwmR5

3) Get the package maintainer to upload a fixed stub fvwmR5 package
that can overwrite the old package, supplying a non-failing postrm,
and then remove that package again.

dpkg will not properly remove packages whose postrm scripts fail.
There used to be an option to ignore failure of maintainer scripts in
the old Perl dpkg, but this has the potential to cause so much havoc
if people are actually persuaded to use it that I didn't reimplement
it in the new C version.

Ian.

From: iwj10@thor.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson)
To: Ian Jackson <iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk>
Subject: Bug#1503: Info received (was Bug#1503: How to remove fvwmr5)
In-Reply-To: <m0syUPq-0002YOZ@chiark.al.cl.cam.ac.uk>
References: <m0syUPq-0002YOZ@chiark.al.cl.cam.ac.uk>

Thank you for the additional information you have supplied regarding
this problem report.  It has been forwarded to the developers to
accompany the original report.

If you wish to continue to submit further information on your problem,
please do the same thing again: send it to debian-bugs@pixar.com, ensuring
that the Subject line starts with "Bug#1503" or "Re: Bug#1503" so that
we can identify it as relating to the same problem.

Please do not reply to the address at the top of this message,
unless you wish to report a problem with the bug-tracking system.

Ian Jackson
(maintainer, debian-bugs)