Software removing issues

Support & Help Requests
1

hello ! it’s my first topic on this site.

when i mark software (like pidgin or hexchat) in synaptic-package-manager it says that it will remove ubuntu-mate-desktop what should i do ?

update: now i tried to uninstall engrampa archive-manager and it tried to remove ubuntu-mate-core

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2

It doesn’t on my system. Do you have PPAs that provide them (and might cause issues with UM 18.04)? If you display the properties of hexchat and pidgin in Synaptic, what do you have in the Versions tab for each?

3

Hi @lui, Is this by chance version 16.04 LTS? All eyes are on the brand new 18.04 LTS which shouldn’t be this way. But 16.04 is a little different.

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4

As said by others, this shouldn’t be happening. That said it’s not something to worry too much about unless other packages besides ubuntu-mate-desktop are also about to be removed. All that package does is tell the system that this application is part of the defaults. You can even try removing the software and then once it’s removed add back ubuntu-mate-desktop. I’ve been able to do this before.

If that doesn’t work, it’s still not really a big deal you can go ahead and remove ubuntu-mate-desktop without issues. It won’t really remove your Mate Desktop.

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5

It can lead to issues when upgrading to a newer Ubuntu version, though, so it's not advisable.

But as I said, they don't trigger errors when trying to install them on my UM 18.04. And it's worth noting that they were removed during the upgrade, so I guess that dependancies have changed inbetween and that @lui still has some that come from 3rd-party repos. It would be better to clean this mess than just going along with removing the metapackage.

6

yes i am using ubuntu(mate) 16.04 LTS , should i upgrade ? is it too old ?

7

thanks for your help !

8

You’re fine with 16.04, it’s supported until april 2019, maybe more. But it’s even weirder, then, as I think Hexchat was installed by default on 16.04. So you probably installed 3rd-party packages that broke the desktop metapackage and removed it.

So I ask again: are you using PPAs? If so, which ones and are they up-to-date for Xenial (16.04)?

9

It's supported for another year so no hurry.

ubuntu-mate-desktop is known as a "meta package". It's a package that requires a big list of other packages that forms the MATE Desktop. But it can be safely removed as @bornagainpenguin points out. Later versions, like 18.04 just out, has changed this so it doesn't look so fatal, which it isn't of course.

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10

sorry but i don’t know what is PPA, and yes system is up-to-date

11

Launch “Softwares & Updates” from the Control Center.

  • In the first tab (Ubuntu softwares): you should have four repositories enabled (main, universe, restricted, multiverse), is that correct? (the source code option doesn’t matter)
  • In the second tab (Other softwares): do you have anything apart from “Canonical partners”?
  • In the third tab (Updates): you should have three repos enabled (security, updates, backports), is that correct?
  • In the sixth tab (Development): do you confirm that the Proposed repo is disabled?
12

I have prepared backup of 16.04 if the no one fix the bugs in 18.04 that have been found by the many users
And after the one year they should be...
Still in doubt... to keep this or to go back?

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13

in the first tab evrything is alright (correct)
in the second tab(other software) there is firefox and stellarium “packages”
evrything is enabled and seems alright and pre-reales updates are disabled should i enable them ?

14

pre-reales updates are disabled should i enable them ?

If you mean the Proposed repo (6th tab), no, never enable it unless you know what you're doing.

Can you give the address of the Firefox and Stellarium repos you use (the line beginning with "deb")?