Debian Bug report logs - #844701
dpkg-maintscript-helper: Version comparison fails for supposedly valid versions

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Message #5 received at submit@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: shirish शिरीष <shirishag75@gmail.com>

To: debian-bts <submit@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: dpkg: buggy dpkg 1.8.11 and above ? Package: dpkg

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2016 14:02:39 +0530

Package: dpkg
Version: 1.18.14
Severity: normal

Dear Maintainer,
It seems the bug is in dpkg 1.18.11 and above. I was suffering from
some sort of broken packages. I shared my issue at
http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/323817/debian-strech-update-broken-seems-buggy-dpkg
. It took quite some time but it seems that dpkg at least 1.18.14 is
somewhat broken/buggy in its implementation. In dpkg 1.18.10 I am able
to fix the broken packages. These happened a few more times. I did run
a few checks http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/324151/how-to-find-out-half-configured-broken-packages-in-debian
but found nothing untoward.

I would update to 1.18.15 as and when it comes to testing.

-- System Information:
Debian Release: stretch/sid
  APT prefers testing
  APT policy: (600, 'testing'), (500, 'unstable-debug'), (500,
'testing-debug'), (1, 'experimental-debug'), (1, 'experimental'), (1,
'unstable')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 4.8.0-1-amd64 (SMP w/2 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)

Versions of packages dpkg depends on:
ii  libbz2-1.0   1.0.6-8
ii  libc6        2.24-5
ii  liblzma5     5.2.2-1.2
ii  libselinux1  2.6-3
ii  tar          1.29b-1.1
ii  zlib1g       1:1.2.8.dfsg-2+b3

dpkg recommends no packages.

Versions of packages dpkg suggests:
ii  apt  1.3.1

-- Configuration Files:
/etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg changed:
debug=1
no-debsig
log /var/log/dpkg.log


-- no debconf information


-- 
          Regards,
          Shirish Agarwal  शिरीष अग्रवाल
  My quotes in this email licensed under CC 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
http://flossexperiences.wordpress.com
EB80 462B 08E1 A0DE A73A  2C2F 9F3D C7A4 E1C4 D2D8

Message #10 received at 844701@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>

To: shirish शिरीष <shirishag75@gmail.com>, 844701@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#844701: dpkg: buggy dpkg 1.8.11 and above ? Package: dpkg

Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2016 03:28:26 +0100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Control: retitle -1 dpkg-maintscript-helper: Version comparison fails for supposedly valid versions
Control: severity -1 serious

Hi!

On Fri, 2016-11-18 at 14:02:39 +0530, shirish शिरीष wrote:
> Package: dpkg
> Version: 1.18.14
> Severity: normal

> It seems the bug is in dpkg 1.18.11 and above. I was suffering from
> some sort of broken packages. I shared my issue at
> http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/323817/debian-strech-update-broken-seems-buggy-dpkg
> . It took quite some time but it seems that dpkg at least 1.18.14 is
> somewhat broken/buggy in its implementation. In dpkg 1.18.10 I am able
> to fix the broken packages. These happened a few more times. I did run
> a few checks http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/324151/how-to-find-out-half-configured-broken-packages-in-debian
> but found nothing untoward.

Please include your reports inline, instead of referencing outside
resources, because this means those details might disappear (in the
future) in case those sites are shutdown, or it requires maintainers
to be online to check them.

Ok, so this is about the dpkg-maintscript-helper failing on the
version validation check for supposedly valid versions. This was
recently reported on IRC too, but we were unable to reproduce it. If
you can still reproduce it, I'd appreciate if you could apply the
attached patch to your installed dpkg-maintscript-helper script
(from a dpkg version > 1.18.11) and rerun the failing package.

Oh, I think I know what's wrong now, the attached patch should in
principle fix that.

Thanks,
Guillem

[d-m-h-verbose-version-check.patch (text/x-diff, attachment)]

Message #19 received at 844701@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: shirish शिरीष <shirishag75@gmail.com>

To: Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>

Cc: 844701@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#844701: dpkg: buggy dpkg 1.8.11 and above ? Package: dpkg

Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2016 01:47:45 +0530

at bottom :-

On 20/11/2016, Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org> wrote:
> Control: retitle -1 dpkg-maintscript-helper: Version comparison fails for
> supposedly valid versions
> Control: severity -1 serious
>
> Hi!
>
> On Fri, 2016-11-18 at 14:02:39 +0530, shirish शिरीष wrote:
>> Package: dpkg
>> Version: 1.18.14
>> Severity: normal
>
>> It seems the bug is in dpkg 1.18.11 and above. I was suffering from
>> some sort of broken packages. I shared my issue at
>> http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/323817/debian-strech-update-broken-seems-buggy-dpkg
>> . It took quite some time but it seems that dpkg at least 1.18.14 is
>> somewhat broken/buggy in its implementation. In dpkg 1.18.10 I am able
>> to fix the broken packages. These happened a few more times. I did run
>> a few checks
>> http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/324151/how-to-find-out-half-configured-broken-packages-in-debian
>> but found nothing untoward.
>
> Please include your reports inline, instead of referencing outside
> resources, because this means those details might disappear (in the
> future) in case those sites are shutdown, or it requires maintainers
> to be online to check them.
>
> Ok, so this is about the dpkg-maintscript-helper failing on the
> version validation check for supposedly valid versions. This was
> recently reported on IRC too, but we were unable to reproduce it. If
> you can still reproduce it, I'd appreciate if you could apply the
> attached patch to your installed dpkg-maintscript-helper script
> (from a dpkg version > 1.18.11) and rerun the failing package.
>
> Oh, I think I know what's wrong now, the attached patch should in
> principle fix that.
>
> Thanks,
> Guillem
>


Dear Guillem,

The patch didn't work :(

First let me share the changes file that got generated, maybe the
rebuild I did was wrong - please check -

┌─[shirish@debian] - [~/games] - [5845]
└─[$] cat dpkg_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.changes

[1:44:47]
Format: 1.8
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2016 01:04:02 +0530
Source: dpkg
Binary: dpkg libdpkg-dev dpkg-dev libdpkg-perl dselect
Architecture: source amd64 all
Version: 1.18.15+nmu1
Distribution: UNRELEASED
Urgency: medium
Maintainer: Dpkg Developers <debian-dpkg@lists.debian.org>
Changed-By: shirish <shirish@debian>
Description:
 dpkg       - Debian package management system
 dpkg-dev   - Debian package development tools
 dselect    - Debian package management front-end
 libdpkg-dev - Debian package management static library
 libdpkg-perl - Dpkg perl modules
Changes:
 dpkg (1.18.15+nmu1) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
 .
   * Non-maintainer upload.
   * Apply d-m-h fix from #844701
Checksums-Sha1:
 8e50f097f70d621071e1e22384c1d68da7693929 1169 dpkg_1.18.15+nmu1.dsc
 16aa8483b0ce8d9eb1f0daebca6da84578226966 4617028 dpkg_1.18.15+nmu1.tar.xz
 3f3eae9de5bb31e178a4acb32654e68410902bda 1238392
dpkg-dbgsym_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 3877d627c7c70bd98f16ee0b71d80c69667a6885 1581332 dpkg-dev_1.18.15+nmu1_all.deb
 b678906567a0c8ba089a5eb109855eba608f60e7 2067816 dpkg_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 6130872887cd4eeba0b0cc0d0c7354322709dfe7 280736
dselect-dbgsym_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 58eb460ab48e1c802ee7ae439dc0295424ef7742 1270868 dselect_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 41e17c39ced6f55b9e72d042255a7a9b647b2e8e 1040980
libdpkg-dev_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 a38005cde488603a7ee5de9ce7bc307c79277bb9 1242182
libdpkg-perl_1.18.15+nmu1_all.deb
Checksums-Sha256:
 2c8cf8ab1256814aa7115009a4620da913b27935351872335cd429ae4e7a9c70 1169
dpkg_1.18.15+nmu1.dsc
 47390a1ca4a296852ef3c25c0bdc82217e49738438882a980e8da28dca0d809e
4617028 dpkg_1.18.15+nmu1.tar.xz
 4a47a968b5dd4b1e87c99e5de9e3fd31b610ebb1891989de3a72ef08afb3405b
1238392 dpkg-dbgsym_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 a05ae6dcefd5bc9affe355c8dd4106b42f795678fa4de31bc063a9784fc845ab
1581332 dpkg-dev_1.18.15+nmu1_all.deb
 b9682da9975541f385b47cf1148028deea4a48a51156293589b124c6f706d7b7
2067816 dpkg_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 d75479bb9005788d96e839ae8b2dde56701993ac6421df1f5aaf79634f008a48
280736 dselect-dbgsym_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 8b317f45808d408485c566b9748522d63d556bcec7525dcaa442a9720073dd27
1270868 dselect_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 e45e67c3ab034ed3d1bf9f268daba92ee3cc406c3b75ef2bd0354ec79dc30d7f
1040980 libdpkg-dev_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 d75ff545c612a7eb5f4563bb3619cd33ea4d4baff6cade9452e94bb1e7b7a412
1242182 libdpkg-perl_1.18.15+nmu1_all.deb
Files:
 faab0ae6b71c8216a634cbef6759d122 1169 admin required dpkg_1.18.15+nmu1.dsc
 69eeaa680e11f291860217a9536e93dc 4617028 admin required
dpkg_1.18.15+nmu1.tar.xz
 91961eae15e20a3bf2ad614cf42ee4ab 1238392 debug extra
dpkg-dbgsym_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 aa361b4cde6020393c75a601c51f54e6 1581332 utils optional
dpkg-dev_1.18.15+nmu1_all.deb
 325a9629e03781c027f884a17ada0550 2067816 admin required
dpkg_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 75dbcd90ada67522d79206b65519865e 280736 debug extra
dselect-dbgsym_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 e490b38b2b132c26670635628e302941 1270868 admin optional
dselect_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 0d206c14b1ffd5cb6b09608e9774b3bf 1040980 libdevel optional
libdpkg-dev_1.18.15+nmu1_amd64.deb
 e22e289a709d36d2186da60e07b68225 1242182 perl optional
libdpkg-perl_1.18.15+nmu1_all.deb

Trying with the new versions got this (again) -

[$] sudo aptitude reinstall cme libconfig-model-perl
libconfig-model-dpkg-perl fonts-arphic-uming
        [1:46:39]
The following packages will be REINSTALLED:
  cme fonts-arphic-uming libconfig-model-dpkg-perl libconfig-model-perl
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 4 reinstalled, 0 to remove and
45 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/8,465 kB of archives. After unpacking 0 B will be used.
D000001: ensure_diversions: new, (re)loading
D000001: ensure_statoverrides: new, (re)loading
(Reading database ... 1207479 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../0-fonts-arphic-uming_0.2.20080216.2-7_all.deb ...
D000001: process_archive oldversionstatus=broken due to postinst failure
dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '0.2.20080216.2-1' is not
valid: D000001: cmpversions a='0:0.2.20080216.2-1' b='0:0' r=302
dpkg: warning: subprocess old pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ...
dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '0.2.20080216.2-1' is not
valid: D000001: cmpversions a='0:0.2.20080216.2-1' b='0:0' r=302
dpkg: error processing archive
/tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/0-fonts-arphic-uming_0.2.20080216.2-7_all.deb
(--unpack):
 subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '0.2.20080216.2-6~' is not
valid: D000001: cmpversions a='0:0.2.20080216.2-6~' b='0:0' r=302
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
Preparing to unpack .../1-cme_1.015-1_all.deb ...
D000001: process_archive oldversionstatus=broken due to postinst failure
dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '1.008-1~' is not valid:
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.008-1~' b='0:0' r=1
dpkg: warning: subprocess old pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ...
dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '1.008-1~' is not valid:
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.008-1~' b='0:0' r=1
dpkg: error processing archive
/tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/1-cme_1.015-1_all.deb (--unpack):
 subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '1.008-1~' is not valid:
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.008-1~' b='0:0' r=1
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
Preparing to unpack .../2-libconfig-model-perl_2.094-1_all.deb ...
D000001: process_archive oldversionstatus=broken due to postinst failure
dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '2.075-2~' is not valid:
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.075-2~' b='0:0' r=1
dpkg: warning: subprocess old pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ...
dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '2.075-2~' is not valid:
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.075-2~' b='0:0' r=1
dpkg: error processing archive
/tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/2-libconfig-model-perl_2.094-1_all.deb
(--unpack):
 subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '2.070-1~' is not valid:
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.070-1~' b='0:0' r=1
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
Preparing to unpack .../3-libconfig-model-dpkg-perl_2.085_all.deb ...
D000001: process_archive oldversionstatus=broken due to postinst failure
dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '2.070~' is not valid:
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.070~' b='0:0' r=1
dpkg: warning: subprocess old pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ...
dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '2.070~' is not valid:
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.070~' b='0:0' r=1
dpkg: error processing archive
/tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/3-libconfig-model-dpkg-perl_2.085_all.deb
(--unpack):
 subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '2.070~' is not valid:
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.070~' b='0:0' r=1
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2016.03.30' b='0:2016.05.24' r=-2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/0-fonts-arphic-uming_0.2.20080216.2-7_all.deb
 /tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/1-cme_1.015-1_all.deb
 /tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/2-libconfig-model-perl_2.094-1_all.deb
 /tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/3-libconfig-model-dpkg-perl_2.085_all.deb
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.4.0-1~local' b='0:1.4.0-1~local' r=0
======  How can you help?  (doc: https://wiki.debian.org/how-can-i-help ) ======

-----  Show old opportunities as well as new ones: how-can-i-help --old  -----
needrestart is being skipped since dpkg has failed
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
D000001: ensure_diversions: new, (re)loading
D000001: process queue pkg fonts-arphic-uming:all queue.len 3 progress 1, try 1
dpkg: error processing package fonts-arphic-uming (--configure):
 package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
 reinstall it before attempting configuration
D000001: process queue pkg cme:all queue.len 2 progress 1, try 1
D000001: process queue pkg libconfig-model-perl:all queue.len 2
progress 2, try 1
dpkg: error processing package libconfig-model-perl (--configure):
 package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
 reinstall it before attempting configuration
D000001: process queue pkg libconfig-model-dpkg-perl:all queue.len 1
progress 1, try 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of libconfig-model-dpkg-perl:
 libconfig-model-dpkg-perl depends on libconfig-model-perl (>= 2.092); however:
  Package libconfig-model-perl is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package libconfig-model-dpkg-perl (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
D000001: process queue pkg cme:all queue.len 0 progress 1, try 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of cme:
 cme depends on libconfig-model-perl (>= 2.089); however:
  Package libconfig-model-perl is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package cme (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2016.03.30' b='0:2016.05.24' r=-2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
Errors were encountered while processing:
 fonts-arphic-uming
 libconfig-model-perl
 libconfig-model-dpkg-perl
 cme

So it seems some issue is still there. I'll reboot and see if the
issue still persists.

-- 
          Regards,
          Shirish Agarwal  शिरीष अग्रवाल
  My quotes in this email licensed under CC 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
http://flossexperiences.wordpress.com
EB80 462B 08E1 A0DE A73A  2C2F 9F3D C7A4 E1C4 D2D8

Message #24 received at 844701@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: shirish शिरीष <shirishag75@gmail.com>

To: Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>

Cc: 844701@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#844701: dpkg: buggy dpkg 1.8.11 and above ? Package: dpkg

Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2016 03:50:59 +0530

at bottom :-

On 21/11/2016, shirish शिरीष <shirishag75@gmail.com> wrote:
> at bottom :-

<snipped>

> Trying with the new versions got this (again) -
>
> [$] sudo aptitude reinstall cme libconfig-model-perl
> libconfig-model-dpkg-perl fonts-arphic-uming
>         [1:46:39]
> The following packages will be REINSTALLED:
>   cme fonts-arphic-uming libconfig-model-dpkg-perl libconfig-model-perl
> 0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 4 reinstalled, 0 to remove and
> 45 not upgraded.
> Need to get 0 B/8,465 kB of archives. After unpacking 0 B will be used.
> D000001: ensure_diversions: new, (re)loading
> D000001: ensure_statoverrides: new, (re)loading
> (Reading database ... 1207479 files and directories currently installed.)
> Preparing to unpack .../0-fonts-arphic-uming_0.2.20080216.2-7_all.deb ...
> D000001: process_archive oldversionstatus=broken due to postinst failure
> dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '0.2.20080216.2-1' is not
> valid: D000001: cmpversions a='0:0.2.20080216.2-1' b='0:0' r=302
> dpkg: warning: subprocess old pre-removal script returned error exit status
> 1
> dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ...
> dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '0.2.20080216.2-1' is not
> valid: D000001: cmpversions a='0:0.2.20080216.2-1' b='0:0' r=302
> dpkg: error processing archive
> /tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/0-fonts-arphic-uming_0.2.20080216.2-7_all.deb
> (--unpack):
>  subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
> D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
> dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '0.2.20080216.2-6~' is not
> valid: D000001: cmpversions a='0:0.2.20080216.2-6~' b='0:0' r=302
> dpkg: error while cleaning up:
>  subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
> D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
> Preparing to unpack .../1-cme_1.015-1_all.deb ...
> D000001: process_archive oldversionstatus=broken due to postinst failure
> dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '1.008-1~' is not valid:
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.008-1~' b='0:0' r=1
> dpkg: warning: subprocess old pre-removal script returned error exit status
> 1
> dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ...
> dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '1.008-1~' is not valid:
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.008-1~' b='0:0' r=1
> dpkg: error processing archive
> /tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/1-cme_1.015-1_all.deb (--unpack):
>  subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
> D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
> dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '1.008-1~' is not valid:
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.008-1~' b='0:0' r=1
> dpkg: error while cleaning up:
>  subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
> D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
> Preparing to unpack .../2-libconfig-model-perl_2.094-1_all.deb ...
> D000001: process_archive oldversionstatus=broken due to postinst failure
> dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '2.075-2~' is not valid:
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.075-2~' b='0:0' r=1
> dpkg: warning: subprocess old pre-removal script returned error exit status
> 1
> dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ...
> dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '2.075-2~' is not valid:
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.075-2~' b='0:0' r=1
> dpkg: error processing archive
> /tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/2-libconfig-model-perl_2.094-1_all.deb
> (--unpack):
>  subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
> D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
> dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '2.070-1~' is not valid:
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.070-1~' b='0:0' r=1
> dpkg: error while cleaning up:
>  subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
> D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
> Preparing to unpack .../3-libconfig-model-dpkg-perl_2.085_all.deb ...
> D000001: process_archive oldversionstatus=broken due to postinst failure
> dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '2.070~' is not valid:
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.070~' b='0:0' r=1
> dpkg: warning: subprocess old pre-removal script returned error exit status
> 1
> dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ...
> dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '2.070~' is not valid:
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.070~' b='0:0' r=1
> dpkg: error processing archive
> /tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/3-libconfig-model-dpkg-perl_2.085_all.deb
> (--unpack):
>  subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
> D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
> dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: version '2.070~' is not valid:
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.070~' b='0:0' r=1
> dpkg: error while cleaning up:
>  subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
> D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:2016.03.30' b='0:2016.05.24' r=-2
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
> Errors were encountered while processing:
>  /tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/0-fonts-arphic-uming_0.2.20080216.2-7_all.deb
>  /tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/1-cme_1.015-1_all.deb
>  /tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/2-libconfig-model-perl_2.094-1_all.deb
>  /tmp/apt-dpkg-install-KUG6gL/3-libconfig-model-dpkg-perl_2.085_all.deb
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.4.0-1~local' b='0:1.4.0-1~local' r=0
> ======  How can you help?  (doc: https://wiki.debian.org/how-can-i-help )
> ======
>
> -----  Show old opportunities as well as new ones: how-can-i-help --old
> -----
> needrestart is being skipped since dpkg has failed
> E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
> D000001: ensure_diversions: new, (re)loading
> D000001: process queue pkg fonts-arphic-uming:all queue.len 3 progress 1,
> try 1
> dpkg: error processing package fonts-arphic-uming (--configure):
>  package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
>  reinstall it before attempting configuration
> D000001: process queue pkg cme:all queue.len 2 progress 1, try 1
> D000001: process queue pkg libconfig-model-perl:all queue.len 2
> progress 2, try 1
> dpkg: error processing package libconfig-model-perl (--configure):
>  package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
>  reinstall it before attempting configuration
> D000001: process queue pkg libconfig-model-dpkg-perl:all queue.len 1
> progress 1, try 1
> dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of
> libconfig-model-dpkg-perl:
>  libconfig-model-dpkg-perl depends on libconfig-model-perl (>= 2.092);
> however:
>   Package libconfig-model-perl is not configured yet.
>
> dpkg: error processing package libconfig-model-dpkg-perl (--configure):
>  dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
> D000001: process queue pkg cme:all queue.len 0 progress 1, try 1
> dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of cme:
>  cme depends on libconfig-model-perl (>= 2.089); however:
>   Package libconfig-model-perl is not configured yet.
>
> dpkg: error processing package cme (--configure):
>  dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:2016.03.30' b='0:2016.05.24' r=-2
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
> D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
> Errors were encountered while processing:
>  fonts-arphic-uming
>  libconfig-model-perl
>  libconfig-model-dpkg-perl
>  cme
>
> So it seems some issue is still there. I'll reboot and see if the
> issue still persists.

Rebooted, retried and still the issue is there :(

-- 
          Regards,
          Shirish Agarwal  शिरीष अग्रवाल
  My quotes in this email licensed under CC 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
http://flossexperiences.wordpress.com
EB80 462B 08E1 A0DE A73A  2C2F 9F3D C7A4 E1C4 D2D8

Message #29 received at 844701@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>

To: shirish शिरीष <shirishag75@gmail.com>, 844701@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#844701: dpkg: buggy dpkg 1.8.11 and above ? Package: dpkg

Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2016 23:52:03 +0100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Hi!

On Mon, 2016-11-21 at 01:47:45 +0530, shirish शिरीष wrote:
> The patch didn't work :(

Well that it didn't work was actually also very useful! Because in
your case it should not have worked due to having debug output
enabled. If you retry it again w/o debugging enabled it should work,
and the attached patch should make it impervious to debug settings.

> So it seems some issue is still there. I'll reboot and see if the
> issue still persists.

Yes and no. The original problem should be gone (the problem with the
exit code, the new problem with the non-empty output string due to the
debug output is new, but very welcome as it should make the code more
robust. Thanks for that. Attached new patch.

(BTW reboot should not in general fix this kind of issues. :)

Thanks,
Guillem

[d-m-h-verbose-version-check.patch (text/x-diff, attachment)]

Message #34 received at 844701@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: shirish शिरीष <shirishag75@gmail.com>

To: Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>

Cc: 844701@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#844701: dpkg: buggy dpkg 1.8.11 and above ? Package: dpkg

Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2016 05:00:39 +0530

in-line :-

On 21/11/2016, Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> On Mon, 2016-11-21 at 01:47:45 +0530, shirish शिरीष wrote:
>> The patch didn't work :(
>
> Well that it didn't work was actually also very useful! Because in
> your case it should not have worked due to having debug output
> enabled. If you retry it again w/o debugging enabled it should work,
> and the attached patch should make it impervious to debug settings.
>
>> So it seems some issue is still there. I'll reboot and see if the
>> issue still persists.
>
> Yes and no. The original problem should be gone (the problem with the
> exit code, the new problem with the non-empty output string due to the
> debug output is new, but very welcome as it should make the code more
> robust. Thanks for that. Attached new patch.
>
> (BTW reboot should not in general fix this kind of issues. :)

Hi Gulllem,

I don't know whether the NEW patch you shared should have been on top
of the OLD patch or should do from scratch, hence did it from scratch
. Sorry, am new to this patching business :)

Anyways, think it got through but for some reason dpkg died/failed it
says , see -

─[$] sudo aptitude reinstall cme libconfig-model-perl
libconfig-model-dpkg-perl fonts-arphic-uming

The following packages will be REINSTALLED:
  cme fonts-arphic-uming libconfig-model-dpkg-perl libconfig-model-perl

0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 4 reinstalled, 0 to remove and
45 not upgraded.

Need to get 0 B/8,465 kB of archives. After unpacking 0 B will be used.
D000001: ensure_diversions: new, (re)loading
D000001: ensure_statoverrides: new, (re)loading
(Reading database ... 1207479 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../0-fonts-arphic-uming_0.2.20080216.2-7_all.deb ...
D000001: process_archive oldversionstatus=broken due to postinst failure
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: cmpversions a='0:0.2.20080216.2-7' b='0:0.2.20080216.2-6~' r=1
D000001: cmpversions a='0:0.2.20080216.2-7' b='0:0.2.20080216.2-1' r=6
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
Unpacking fonts-arphic-uming (0.2.20080216.2-7) over (0.2.20080216.2-7) ...
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: process_archive updating info directory
D000001: generating infodb hashfile
Preparing to unpack .../1-cme_1.015-1_all.deb ...
D000001: process_archive oldversionstatus=broken due to postinst failure
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.015-1' b='0:1.008-1~' r=1
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
Unpacking cme (1.015-1) over (1.015-1) ...
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: process_archive updating info directory
D000001: generating infodb hashfile
Preparing to unpack .../2-libconfig-model-perl_2.094-1_all.deb ...
D000001: process_archive oldversionstatus=broken due to postinst failure
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.094-1' b='0:2.070-1~' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.094-1' b='0:2.073-1~' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.094-1' b='0:2.070-1~' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.094-1' b='0:2.075-2~' r=2
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
Unpacking libconfig-model-perl (2.094-1) over (2.094-1) ...
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: process_archive updating info directory
D000001: generating infodb hashfile
Preparing to unpack .../3-libconfig-model-dpkg-perl_2.085_all.deb ...
D000001: process_archive oldversionstatus=broken due to postinst failure
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.085' b='0:2.070~' r=1
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
Unpacking libconfig-model-dpkg-perl (2.085) over (2.085) ...
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: process_archive updating info directory
D000001: generating infodb hashfile
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2016.03.30' b='0:2016.05.24' r=-2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
D000001: ensure_diversions: new, (re)loading
D000001: process queue pkg fonts-arphic-uming:all queue.len 5 progress 1, try 1
Setting up fonts-arphic-uming (0.2.20080216.2-7) ...
D000001: deferred_configure updating conffiles
D000001: cmpversions a='0:0.2.20080216.2-7' b='0:0.2.20080216.2-6~' r=1
D000001: cmpversions a='0:0.2.20080216.2-7' b='0:0.2.20080216.2-1' r=6
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: process queue pkg cme:all queue.len 4 progress 1, try 1
D000001: process queue pkg libconfig-model-perl:all queue.len 4
progress 2, try 1
Setting up libconfig-model-perl (2.094-1) ...
D000001: deferred_configure updating conffiles
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.094-1' b='0:2.070-1~' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.094-1' b='0:2.073-1~' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.094-1' b='0:2.070-1~' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.094-1' b='0:2.075-2~' r=2
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: process queue pkg libconfig-model-dpkg-perl:all queue.len 3
progress 1, try 1
Setting up libconfig-model-dpkg-perl (2.085) ...
D000001: deferred_configure updating conffiles
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2.085' b='0:2.070~' r=1
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: process queue pkg man-db:amd64 queue.len 2 progress 1, try 1
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: process queue pkg fontconfig:amd64 queue.len 1 progress 1, try 1
Processing triggers for fontconfig (2.11.0-6.7) ...
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: process queue pkg cme:all queue.len 0 progress 1, try 1
Setting up cme (1.015-1) ...
D000001: deferred_configure updating conffiles
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.015-1' b='0:1.008-1~' r=1
D000001: ensure_diversions: same, skipping
D000001: cmpversions a='0:2016.03.30' b='0:2016.05.24' r=-2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.18.15+nmu1' b='0:1.16' r=2
D000001: cmpversions a='0:1.4.0-1~local' b='0:1.4.0-1~local' r=0
======  How can you help?  (doc: https://wiki.debian.org/how-can-i-help ) ======

-----  Show old opportunities as well as new ones: how-can-i-help --old  -----
needrestart is being skipped since dpkg has failed


Now have no idea why I get the dpkg has failed message ?


> Thanks,
> Guillem
>


-- 
          Regards,
          Shirish Agarwal  शिरीष अग्रवाल
  My quotes in this email licensed under CC 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
http://flossexperiences.wordpress.com
EB80 462B 08E1 A0DE A73A  2C2F 9F3D C7A4 E1C4 D2D8

Message #41 received at 844701@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>

To: shirish शिरीष <shirishag75@gmail.com>, 844701@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#844701: dpkg: buggy dpkg 1.8.11 and above ? Package: dpkg

Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2016 05:01:18 +0100

Hi!

On Mon, 2016-11-21 at 05:00:39 +0530, shirish शिरीष wrote:
> On 21/11/2016, Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org> wrote:
> > On Mon, 2016-11-21 at 01:47:45 +0530, shirish शिरीष wrote:
> >> The patch didn't work :(
> >
> > Well that it didn't work was actually also very useful! Because in
> > your case it should not have worked due to having debug output
> > enabled. If you retry it again w/o debugging enabled it should work,
> > and the attached patch should make it impervious to debug settings.

> >> So it seems some issue is still there. I'll reboot and see if the
> >> issue still persists.
> >
> > Yes and no. The original problem should be gone (the problem with the
> > exit code, the new problem with the non-empty output string due to the
> > debug output is new, but very welcome as it should make the code more
> > robust. Thanks for that. Attached new patch.

> Anyways, think it got through but for some reason dpkg died/failed it
> says , see -

I don't think this is related to this problem. The error report from
whoever is reporting that is not very helpful though. :/

In any case, I've now implemented an actual set of validators instead
of abusing the --compare-versions to do the validation. Which will
have defined exit codes and not output stuff on debugging modes.

At least I've added a --validate-pkgname and a --validate-version.
I'll try to do a release tomorrow or so.

Thanks,
Guillem

Message #46 received at 844701@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Guido Günther <agx@sigxcpu.org>

To: Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>, 844701@bugs.debian.org

Cc: shirish शिरीष <shirishag75@gmail.com>, Ritesh Raj Sarraf <rrs@debian.org>

Subject: Bug#844701: dpkg-maintscript-helper: Version comparison fails for supposedly valid versions

Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2016 11:00:01 +0100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

control: tags -1 +patch

Hi Guillem,
On Sun, Nov 20, 2016 at 03:28:26AM +0100, Guillem Jover wrote:
> Control: retitle -1 dpkg-maintscript-helper: Version comparison fails for supposedly valid versions
> Control: severity -1 serious
> 
> Hi!
> 
> On Fri, 2016-11-18 at 14:02:39 +0530, shirish शिरीष wrote:
> > Package: dpkg
> > Version: 1.18.14
> > Severity: normal
> 
> > It seems the bug is in dpkg 1.18.11 and above. I was suffering from
> > some sort of broken packages. I shared my issue at
> > http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/323817/debian-strech-update-broken-seems-buggy-dpkg
> > . It took quite some time but it seems that dpkg at least 1.18.14 is
> > somewhat broken/buggy in its implementation. In dpkg 1.18.10 I am able
> > to fix the broken packages. These happened a few more times. I did run
> > a few checks http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/324151/how-to-find-out-half-configured-broken-packages-in-debian
> > but found nothing untoward.
> 
> Please include your reports inline, instead of referencing outside
> resources, because this means those details might disappear (in the
> future) in case those sites are shutdown, or it requires maintainers
> to be online to check them.
> 
> Ok, so this is about the dpkg-maintscript-helper failing on the
> version validation check for supposedly valid versions. This was
> recently reported on IRC too, but we were unable to reproduce it. If
> you can still reproduce it, I'd appreciate if you could apply the
> attached patch to your installed dpkg-maintscript-helper script
> (from a dpkg version > 1.18.11) and rerun the failing package.
> 
> Oh, I think I know what's wrong now, the attached patch should in
> principle fix that.

I've tried the attached patches they still fail in my use case (pbuilder
create). The reason is that stderr contains completely unrelated garbish
form ld.so. I've added a version that relies on exit status only. Can
this be applied?
Cheers,
 -- Guido

[0001-d-m-h-don-t-rely-on-command-output-for-version-compa.patch (text/x-diff, attachment)]

Message #53 received at 844701@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Ritesh Raj Sarraf <rrs@debian.org>

To: Guido Günther <agx@sigxcpu.org>, Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>, 844701@bugs.debian.org

Cc: shirish शिरीष <shirishag75@gmail.com>

Subject: Re: Bug#844701: dpkg-maintscript-helper: Version comparison fails for supposedly valid versions

Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2016 18:34:14 +0530

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA512

On Fri, 2016-12-16 at 11:00 +0100, Guido Günther wrote:
> I've tried the attached patches they still fail in my use case (pbuilder
> create). 

Thanks for the root cause. My use case is the same.

> The reason is that stderr contains completely unrelated garbish
> form ld.so. I've added a version that relies on exit status only. 

Hmmm. Yes. THis must be the reason. I'm going to try your patch.

> Can
> this be applied?
- -- 
Ritesh Raj Sarraf | http://people.debian.org/~rrs
Debian - The Universal Operating System
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Message #58 received at 844701@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>

To: Guido Günther <agx@sigxcpu.org>, 844701@bugs.debian.org

Cc: shirish शिरीष <shirishag75@gmail.com>, Ritesh Raj Sarraf <rrs@debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#844701: dpkg-maintscript-helper: Version comparison fails for supposedly valid versions

Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2016 14:17:05 +0100

Hi!

On Fri, 2016-12-16 at 11:00:01 +0100, Guido Günther wrote:
> I've tried the attached patches they still fail in my use case (pbuilder
> create). The reason is that stderr contains completely unrelated garbish
> form ld.so. I've added a version that relies on exit status only. Can
> this be applied?

Ah clever indeed! I had come to the same conclusion that relying on
stdout/stderr was a very bad idea, so I had already implemented a
bunch of --validate-<thing> commands in dpkg (with <thing> being
version, pkgname, trigname and archname), which do exactly that,
are not affected by debug settings or similar. Which is what I'm
in principle planning on merging for .16 which I should really be
releasing this week. :/

Sorry for the delay. Things have not been looking good from here. :(

Thanks,
Guillem

Message #63 received at 844701@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Guido Günther <agx@sigxcpu.org>

To: Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>

Cc: 844701@bugs.debian.org, shirish शिरीष <shirishag75@gmail.com>, Ritesh Raj Sarraf <rrs@debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#844701: dpkg-maintscript-helper: Version comparison fails for supposedly valid versions

Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2016 14:32:35 +0100

On Fri, Dec 16, 2016 at 02:17:05PM +0100, Guillem Jover wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> On Fri, 2016-12-16 at 11:00:01 +0100, Guido Günther wrote:
> > I've tried the attached patches they still fail in my use case (pbuilder
> > create). The reason is that stderr contains completely unrelated garbish
> > form ld.so. I've added a version that relies on exit status only. Can
> > this be applied?
> 
> Ah clever indeed! I had come to the same conclusion that relying on
> stdout/stderr was a very bad idea, so I had already implemented a
> bunch of --validate-<thing> commands in dpkg (with <thing> being
> version, pkgname, trigname and archname), which do exactly that,
> are not affected by debug settings or similar. Which is what I'm
> in principle planning on merging for .16 which I should really be
> releasing this week. :/
> 
> Sorry for the delay. Things have not been looking good from here. :(

I can NMU dpkg with just that fix so you have all the time needed for
the next version. This would at unbreak creating / updating chroots with
pbuilder and eatmydata (and whetever folks are using to manage their
chroots).

(and having --validate-<thing> is nice to have).

Cheers,
 -- Guido

Message #68 received at 844701@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>

To: Guido Günther <agx@sigxcpu.org>, 844701@bugs.debian.org

Cc: shirish शिरीष <shirishag75@gmail.com>, Ritesh Raj Sarraf <rrs@debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#844701: dpkg-maintscript-helper: Version comparison fails for supposedly valid versions

Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2016 15:52:31 +0100

On Fri, 2016-12-16 at 14:32:35 +0100, Guido Günther wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 16, 2016 at 02:17:05PM +0100, Guillem Jover wrote:
> > […] Which is what I'm
> > in principle planning on merging for .16 which I should really be
> > releasing this week. :/
> > 
> > Sorry for the delay. Things have not been looking good from here. :(

> I can NMU dpkg with just that fix so you have all the time needed for
> the next version. This would at unbreak creating / updating chroots with
> pbuilder and eatmydata (and whetever folks are using to manage their
> chroots).

Thanks! But I prefer to handle the uploads myself, as the release
machinery (even thought it's documented in the wiki) is delicate.

I've just not been giving this priority as I thought this was only
affecting some upgrade paths, as from the report it was not clear
to me this was a more general and widespread problem.

I'll just start the release process and target a release for later
today. Hope this is early enough! :)

Thanks,
Guillem

Message #71 received at 844701-submitter@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>

To: 844701-submitter@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Bug#844701 in package dpkg marked as pending

Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2016 01:43:20 +0000

Control: tag 844701 pending

Hi!

Bug #844701 in package dpkg reported by you has been fixed in
the dpkg/dpkg.git Git repository. You can see the changelog below, and
you can check the diff of the fix at:

    https://anonscm.debian.org/cgit/dpkg/dpkg.git/diff/?id=b51bc4f

---
commit b51bc4ff0cd540b82e131470053eeed1c3d2f026
Author: Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>
Date:   Sun Dec 4 22:52:42 2016 +0100

    dpkg-maintscript-helper: Use the new --validate-version command
    
    Do not abuse the --compare-versions command to perform version
    validation, use the new --validate-version command expressly added
    now to perform such task. Because the latter returns appropriate exit
    codes, does not print messages in debug mode and is the correct
    interface to use.
    
    Closes: #844701

diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index a05bfdb..a58dbec 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ dpkg (1.18.16) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
   * Add new dpkg --validate-<thing> commands to validate the syntax of
     various <thing>s, where the current list is «pkgname», «trigname»,
     «archname» and «version».
+  * Use the new dpkg --validate-version command in dpkg-maintscript-helper,
+    instead of abusing the --compare-versions command to perform version
+    validation. Closes: #844701
   * Perl modules:
     - Whitelist DPKG_GENSYMBOLS_CHECK_LEVEL, DPKG_ROOT, DPKG_ADMINDIR and
       DPKG_DATADIR environment variables in Dpkg::Build::Info.

Message #78 received at 844701-close@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>

To: 844701-close@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Bug#844701: fixed in dpkg 1.18.16

Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2016 01:48:42 +0000

Source: dpkg
Source-Version: 1.18.16

We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version of
dpkg, which is due to be installed in the Debian FTP archive.

A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one is
attached.

Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed.  If you
have further comments please address them to 844701@bugs.debian.org,
and the maintainer will reopen the bug report if appropriate.

Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org> (supplier of updated dpkg package)

(This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
administrators by mailing ftpmaster@ftp-master.debian.org)


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA512

Format: 1.8
Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2016 00:25:53 +0100
Source: dpkg
Binary: dpkg libdpkg-dev dpkg-dev libdpkg-perl dselect
Architecture: source
Version: 1.18.16
Distribution: unstable
Urgency: medium
Maintainer: Dpkg Developers <debian-dpkg@lists.debian.org>
Changed-By: Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>
Description:
 dpkg       - Debian package management system
 dpkg-dev   - Debian package development tools
 dselect    - Debian package management front-end
 libdpkg-dev - Debian package management static library
 libdpkg-perl - Dpkg perl modules
Closes: 84434 671074 844701 844955 846395 846564 847220 848378 848379
Changes:
 dpkg (1.18.16) unstable; urgency=medium
 .
   [ Guillem Jover ]
   * Add support for specifying multiple targets on «dpkg-buildpackage -T»
     which will be run successively. Closes: #671074
   * Reject empty upstream versions in C and perl code. These are not permitted
     by deb-version(5), but the code was letting those through.
   * Use lzma_cputhreads() instead of sysconf(_SC_NPROCESSORS_ONLN) as the
     former is way more portable.
   * Automatically decrease xz encoder threads to try to not exceed available
     memory limits. This should alleviated the insane requirements of memory
     needed on 32-bit architectures with many cores, which results in more
     than the userspace addressable memory, when using settings such as
     -z9 and/or -Sextreme in dpkg-deb. Closes: #846564
   * Add new dpkg --validate-<thing> commands to validate the syntax of
     various <thing>s, where the current list is «pkgname», «trigname»,
     «archname» and «version».
   * Use the new dpkg --validate-version command in dpkg-maintscript-helper,
     instead of abusing the --compare-versions command to perform version
     validation. Closes: #844701
   * Allow readlink(2) to return a size smaller than stat(2) in dpkg. Some
     bogus filesystems do not return the actual symlink size in st_size,
     which contradicts POSIX. But allowing the case where the returned size
     is smaller than the one used to allocate memory is harmless, although
     suspect. Let it through, but still print a warning so that users can
     install stuff but are reminded they need to get a fixed filesystem in
     place. This has affected at least ecryptfs in the past and now
     file-based encryption support in ext4 on Android N.
   * Add new dpkg-query virtual field source:Upstream-Version. Closes: #84434
   * Perl modules:
     - Whitelist DPKG_GENSYMBOLS_CHECK_LEVEL, DPKG_ROOT, DPKG_ADMINDIR and
       DPKG_DATADIR environment variables in Dpkg::Build::Info.
   * Documentation:
     - State the current working directory used when running dpkg-buildpackage
       hooks.
     - Add a new ENVIRONMENT section to dpkg-gensymbols(1) and document
       DPKG_GENSYMBOLS_CHECK_LEVEL there.
     - Fix bogus description of --force-confmiss in dpkg(1). Regression
       introduced in 1.16.4. Reported by Sven Joachim <svenjoac@gmx.de>.
       Closes: #846395
     - Update dpkg-parsechangelog parser options. The options specific to
       the changelog parser program did not get updated when the parser got
       switched to be a perl module. Missed in dpkg 1.18.8.
   * Build system:
     - Enable compression libs also in automatic check mode in configure.
     - Honor DPKG_DATADIR again in the installed Dpkg modules. This was an
       explicit public interface, documented in the man page.
 .
   [ Updated programs translations ]
   * Dutch (Frans Spiesschaert). Closes: #848378
   * Simplified Chinese (Zhou Mo). Closes: #844955
 .
   [ Updated scripts translations ]
   * German (Helge Kreutzmann).
   * Swedish (Martin Bagge). Closes: #847220
 .
   [ Updated man pages translations ]
   * Dutch (Frans Spiesschaert). Closes: #848379
   * German (Helge Kreutzmann).
Checksums-Sha1:
 e3d512941f09fb28e30fe264698cdc8c349a6e6f 2032 dpkg_1.18.16.dsc
 238330ea73e8b545444e678c820dfe237632d1c5 4498872 dpkg_1.18.16.tar.xz
Checksums-Sha256:
 660dfc799aa67da75157ca6927d2a7c6c5818fe4042f5c6b2c499f3ac12a0259 2032 dpkg_1.18.16.dsc
 4b147ccf8753e02e2bb598263b4a0ec51418d3c30da08776bad32059a7741388 4498872 dpkg_1.18.16.tar.xz
Files:
 9142a5ec2c6d1317081b1528bcdb6feb 2032 admin required dpkg_1.18.16.dsc
 60de677bfe04d4ba8adaa22279363af0 4498872 admin required dpkg_1.18.16.tar.xz

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Message #87 received at 844701@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Gaudenz Steinlin <gaudenz@debian.org>

To: 844701@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Fix for 844701 breaks installation of valgrind

Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2016 14:08:54 +0100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

reopen -1
retitle -1 dpkg-maintscript-helper: fails if no version is given

Hi

The fix for #844701 included in the upload from earlier today breaks the
installation of valgrind.

Preparing to unpack .../valgrind_1%3a3.12.0-1_amd64.deb ...
dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: dpkg: error: version '' has bad syntax: version string is empty
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/valgrind_1%3a3.12.0-1_amd64.deb (--unpack):
 subprocess new pre-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg-maintscript-helper: error: dpkg: error: version '' has bad syntax: version string is empty

The problem is that valgrind includes the follwoing preinst:

#!/bin/sh
set -e
# Automatically added by dh_installdeb
dpkg-maintscript-helper rm_conffile /etc/bash_completion.d/valgrind -- "$@"
# End automatically added section

According to the dpkg-maintscript-helper manpage it's valid to omit the
prior-version. So this is perfectly legal.

Gaudenz
-- 
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