Apt-get :: DPKG Circular Dependancies!!



Hi All,

Still tinkering away with DSL on my laptop and all was going swimmingly until I tried to install Netbeans 5.5 so I can do Java Dev on DSL.

Netbeans will not install because of a known issue with having to have the bc_1.06-20 package installed.

However having tried to use dpkg to install this (taken from the debian mirror site) it has thrown up the dependency on requiring libc6.2.3.6-6 (remember this, it'll be important in a minute).

So I dutifully grab that and try to install however it conflicts with e2fsprogs versions lower than 1.35, so again I grab the latest (1.37) of e2fsprogs and try to install. This has a pre-dependency on libblekid1_3.1.34. So with infinite patience I try to install this little blighter only to discover it needs libc6_6.3.6-6!!!

I have tried using dselect but the same errors jump out of there too. Is there anything that can be done or do I just have to find another Java IDE?

I would be most grateful for any and all help.

All the best

Christian
Quote (cmcc1999 @ Mar. 26 2007,11:13)
Still tinkering away with DSL on my laptop and all was going swimmingly until I tried to install Netbeans 5.5 so I can do Java Dev on DSL.

You shouldn't try to install bleeding-edge apps like that on DSL. That's like trying to run XP or Vista applications on Win98, or trying to run OSX apps on OS 7.5.

DSL is built on Debian Woody (Debian Old Stable). You'll either need to move back to an earlier, Woody-friendly version of NetBeans or update an awful lot of dependencies. The latter could cause conflicts with DSL's base applications. Mixing systems like that -- bleeding edge atop older libs -- can turn into a headache very fast (as you now know). So is trying to get back where you started. Did you backup anything you "updated"? That always makes things easier if the "update" bleeps up everything (that includes stuff added with dpkg/apt-get).
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I have tried using dselect but the same errors jump out of there too.

Yeah, I bet. That's what happens when someone is using a stable base but gets all gung-ho about something that's made for a state of the art system (Debian terms: testing, unstable) and starts "updating" all the stuff that made it stable in the first place. Can you put the toothpaste back in the tube without reinstalling? It's easier if you backed up the stuff you tried to update.
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Is there anything that can be done or do I just have to find another Java IDE?

Whatever you can find, it would still have to be something that won't require system-wide upgrades to work reasonably well with DSL. That will likely mean an older version, if you can still find either source that compiles or a binary that works with what you already have or can add without making your system unstable and buggy. Be sure to browse through release notes and installation guides to find out exactly what you need and compare it to what you have on your system, and look at options for compiling (i.e., compiling against older versions of dependencies) if you go that route (which assumes you have GCC installed):
http://damnsmalllinux.org/packages.html
Part of the problem is that dsl's libc6 is not exactly the same as Woody's.  Same issue with perl.

Sometimes the circular dependency hell issues can be broken with crafty use of dpkg  --ignore-depends=somedep

Usually though you end up wishing you never started.
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Usually though you end up wishing you never started.

Or wondering when and where the @*#% it'll all stop.
Thanks for the answers.

I think I am indeed flogging a dead horse. My intention on installing DSL was to learn Linux to make me more effective in my new job (I am a technical writer at a software company) and as I am also learning programming (in Java and C++) it would have been useful to have the same IDE on my laptop as I have on my work and home PC's. Fortunately it is not a must have and my tinkerings so far don't seem to have upset DSL any.

I must say though that trying to get this installed as helped me (through necessity) to learn more about Linux and DSL in particular in a few days than I would have probably have picked up in a couple of weeks of general mooching around.

Thanks for helping me come to this conclusion much quicker than I would have otherwise!!!

All the best

Chris
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