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[John Gilmore <340970@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The issue is worse than as reported above.

apport in Ubuntu 14.10 beta1 won't even let you report a bug in an
application when ANY package in the system is not the absolute latest!

I got a core-dump crash in Rhythmbox and this was the eventual result
from apport (when I came across it on my screen hours later):

The problem cannot be reported:

You have some obsolete package versions installed. Please upgrade the
following packages and check if the problem still occurs:

acl, apt, apt-utils, bsdutils, cgmanager, coreutils, dbus, dbus-x11,
dictionaries-common, enchant, firefox, geoip-database, gettext, gettext-
base, gir1.2-gdkpixbuf-2.0, gir1.2-gst-plugins-base-1.0,
gir1.2-gstreamer-1.0, gir1.2-gtk-3.0, gir1.2-javascriptcoregtk-3.0,
gir1.2-peas-1.0, gir1.2-soup-2.4, gir1.2-webkit-3.0, glib-networking,
glib-networking-common, glib-networking-services, groff-base,
gstreamer1.0-plugins-base, gstreamer1.0-plugins-good,
gstreamer1.0-pulseaudio, gstreamer1.0-x, gvfs, gvfs-backends, gvfs-
common, gvfs-daemons, gvfs-libs, iproute2, isc-dhcp-client, isc-dhcp-
common, libacl1, libapparmor1, libapt-inst1.5, libapt-pkg-perl, libapt-
pkg4.12, libarchive13, libasprintf-dev, libasprintf0c2, libattr1,
libblkid1, libbsd0, libburn4, libcap-ng0, libcgmanager0, libclone-perl,
libcups2, libcurl3-gnutls, libdbus-1-3, libdmapsharing-3.0-2, libelf1,
libenchant1c2a, libexif12, libfile-fcntllock-perl, libfreetype6, libgdk-
pixbuf2.0-0, libgdk-pixbuf2.0-common, libgettextpo-dev, libgettextpo0,
libglib2.0-0, libglib2.0-data, libgpg-error0, libgstreamer-plugins-
base1.0-0, libgstreamer-plugins-good1.0-0, libgstreamer1.0-0,
libgtk-3-0, libgtk-3-bin, libgtk-3-common, libgudev-1.0-0,
libhunspell-1.3-0, libimobiledevice4, libio-pty-perl, libisofs6,
libjavascriptcoregtk-3.0-0, libldap-2.4-2, liblist-moreutils-perl,
liblocale-gettext-perl, libmirclient8, libmirclientplatform-mesa,
libmircommon1, libmount1, libmpdec2, libnet-dns-perl, libnet-libidn-
perl, libnet-ssleay-perl, liborc-0.4-0, libpam-systemd, libparted2,
libpeas-1.0-0, libpeas-common, libperlio-gzip-perl, libpopt0, libpulse0,
libpython2.7, libpython2.7-minimal, libpython2.7-stdlib, libpython3.4,
libpython3.4-minimal, libpython3.4-stdlib, librsvg2-2, librsvg2-common,
libsepol1, libsmartcols1, libsmbclient, libsocket6-perl, libsoup-
gnome2.4-1, libsoup2.4-1, libsqlite3-0, libstartup-notification0,
libsub-identify-perl, libsub-name-perl, libsystemd-daemon0, libsystemd-
journal0, libsystemd-login0, libtelepathy-glib0, libtext-charwidth-perl,
libtext-iconv-perl, libtext-soundex-perl, libudev1, libuuid1,
libwbclient0, libwebkitgtk-3.0-0, libwebkitgtk-3.0-common, libxcb-util0,
lintian, mount, multiarch-support, parted, perl, perl-base, perl-
modules, python-apt-common, python-gi, python-gobject, python2.7,
python2.7-minimal, python3-apt, python3-gi, python3.4,
python3.4-minimal, samba-libs, systemd, systemd-shim, t1utils, tzdata,
udev, usbmuxd, util-linux, uuid-runtime, x11-common

So, on how many levels is this wrong?

First, this problem may not be easy to reproduce.  So throwing away the
bug report "until every package is updated" will mean the bug just
doesn't get reported, which means it will never be fixed.

Second, the bug is almost certainly not fixed by installing any of those
updates.

Third, the package containing the bug isn't even in the list of things-that-need-updates!!!
It won't report a core dump in rhythmbox because I haven't updated Firefox?  Come on!

Fourth, I just installed this system a few days ago, from the very latest release media available (Ubu Gnome 14.10 beta1).  Refusing to even report the bugs IN THE RELEASE MEDIA is foolish.  Not everybody lives on a gigabit connection and perhaps
a few people actually want to run software that they have the source code for -- not just the latest binary that somebody threw on a server somewhere.

Fifth, most people are NEVER going to have the absolute latest
everything installed.   Poof, no bug reports!

All this is explainable if you consider that the apport maintainers
might prefer if FEWER bugs were filed.  It's so much simpler to maintain
packages when the system won't let bugs be reported against them -- not
even crashes that produce core dumps.

You could simplify both the user interaction and eliminate many of the other bugs reported against apport if you just
insert "exit(0)" as the first line of the main routine of apport.  This is a much more straightforward way to prevent end users from filing bugs.

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Touch seeded packages, which is subscribed to apport in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/340970

Title:
  When apport complains package is outdated, it doesn't let you update

Status in Apport crash detection/reporting:
  Confirmed
Status in “apport” package in Ubuntu:
  In Progress

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: apport

  Reportedly, when a package crashes but a newer version is available,
  apport tells you that it won't report a bug because the bug might have
  been fixed in the newer version. But it provides no obvious way of
  installing the newer version.

  This could be fixed by adding an "Update…" button to this message,
  that launches Update Manager.

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