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[Launchpad Bug Tracker <1110188@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

** Changed in: ubuntu
       Status: New => Confirmed

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1110188

Title:
  USC/APTURL allows a package installation to invisibly uninstall vital
  packages

Status in apturl:
  New
Status in software-center package in Ubuntu:
  Triaged

Bug description:
  Update:
  Bug #793318 has been made an alias of this bug without notifying here that it relates to APTURL and modifying this header.  
  A similar horror story happened invisibly after clicking an APTURL link in a Web page.
  Please add "Affects apturl (Ubuntu)" like in that page.

  Original:
  software-center 5.4.1.3, Ubuntu 12.10

  I downloaded steam_latest.deb from steampowered.com, saved it, double
  clicked on it, and Software Center launched.  It brought up the deb
  information page, I clicked Install, and Software Center proceeded to
  remove literally about half of the installed pacakges on my system
  (about 400), including things like unity, ubuntu-desktop, and,
  ironically, software-center itself.  It eventually errored out (see
  attached log).

  Using /var/log/apt/history.log, I was able to restore the system's
  packages to their previous state, but Software Center shouldn't have
  allowed this to happen (whether or not the third-party .deb was
  actually at fault).

  NB: To correct the apt error, I did "apt-get -f install".  Then, after
  I apt-get installed the packages which were removed, steam was still
  installed, so it wasn't a dependency error which caused the packages
  to be removed.  I have no idea why it actually happened.

  <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareCenter#installing>: "4. If installing
  the software would involve removing ubuntu-desktop, the package should
  be treated as uninstallable (just as it is with software updates). 5.
  If the relevant package cannot be installed, for that reason or any
  other, an error alert should appear..."

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