Version: (using KDE KDE 3.4.2) Installed from: Unspecified Linux OS: Linux I wish I could mark this bug as "grave" - I just managed to kill my KDE system because I removed a dependency with adept. Instead of asking me if I really wanted to do this (like apt-get), it just started removing all my packages. (note that I had a filter running, so I didn't see any files possibly affected by my changes). This is a major inconvinience and will take me 3-4 hours of work to recover. Adept should list the changes and ask if these changes are intended and correct.
There is "preview changes" button and statusbar has statistics on what will change. "remove 500 packages" kinda sounds suspicious, doesn't it? Anyhow, what you are asking for, i presume, is a more obtrusive indication of what is going to happen. (I went with the assumption that the user will check what is going to happen himself by clicking preview changes, unless he knows what he is doing and/or doesn't care and hits commit right away). I will think about this for release candidate. Suggestions how to handle it are welcome. Everything i have thought of so far is far too awkward.
How about this: 1) Check if the package-to-be-removed will render other packages unusable 2) If so, let the system show a dialog like "Warning! This change will remove [up to 5 packages affected] (and XY more) because of dependency problems. Are you sure? [yes] - [no]" Not ackward, but secure. IMHO, of course
Very awkward for many users. I, for one, don't like to be interrupted by spurious dialog boxes when i know what i am doing. Passive popup or other non-interrupting notice comes to mind, but... it's still annoying. I could live with some sort of passive popup, but it needs to be thought out and implemented. However, completely out of scope for 1.0, given we are in deep freeze (Release Candidate is tagged and its upload to breezy pending).
Err, having a notification to commit changes is pretty standard (and vital). People installing loads of packages forget all the ones they marked, and they're not always sure to remember all the ones that it pulls in. Synaptic's one works well, IMO.
One thing that could easily be done, is to position the Commit Changes button after the Preview Changes button. Then they would be in the logical working order. I myself have never even seen the Preview button before, until I read about it in this bug report, because my eyes only scanned the toolbar to the Commit button.
Yergh, that's actually a good suggestion. Let me implement it...
You could also limit the warning to cases where the preview changes page is not shown, and add a [ ] "do not warn me again" option.
From https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+source/ept/+bug/39849 When a user apply changes that will remove any package, adept should force "preview changes" to ensure that the user knows what is going on. If the user has already manually previewed the changes, then it is unnecessary.
I agree with the positive postings - I had this problem, too.... I once removed 350 packages (full KDE) accidentally due to a filter and no preview. My proposed solution would be: Include an option, "force preview" and set it to "enabled" by default. A user who doesn't want that can disable it if he/she wishes. I used to use aptitude and liked it a lot. Adept is nice, too, especially the filtering and categorization features. But it lacks a couple of essential features, IMO, like the one named here.
Fixed for 3.0 -- no way to apply changes without at least opening the screen which lists the changes to be done.