Debian Packages

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Which Kicksecure Debian packages are safe to remove? What is a meta package? What other packages do Kicksecure meta packages install? Which packages should never be removed?

Introduction[edit]

It is safe to run sudo apt autoremove so long as the specific Kicksecure machine meta package is kept for the Kicksecure or Kicksecure-Qubes platform. In other words, these packages should not be in the list of autoremoved packages.

Kicksecure:

  • Kicksecure Xfce: kicksecure-xfce
  • Kicksecure CLI: kicksecure-cli

Kicksecure for Qubes:

  • Kicksecure-Qubes GUI: kicksecure-qubes-gui
  • Kicksecure-Qubes CLI kicksecure-qubes-cli

Derivatives such as Whonix®archive.org which are based on Kicksecure:

It is actually a good idea to safely run sudo apt autoremove according to the following instructions on this wiki page to make sure extraneous packages which might no longer be recommended for default installation are removed.

Re-install Meta Packages and Safely Run Autoremove[edit]

1. Update the package lists.

sudo apt update

2. Ensure a proper meta package is installed.

Kicksecure Xfce:

  • Kicksecure: sudo apt install kicksecure-qubes-gui

3. Auto remove packages.

sudo apt autoremove

4. Reconfirm a proper meta package is still installed.

Repeat step two.

5. Done.

The procedure of safely running sudo apt autoremove is complete.

Related: Kicksecure Factory Reset

Changed Configuration Files[edit]

Be careful if a message like this appears. 

Configuration file '/etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.sdwdate'
 ==> Modified (by you or by a script) since installation.
 ==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.
   What would you like to do about it ?  Your options are:
    Y or I  : install the package maintainer's version
    N or O  : keep your currently-installed version
      D     : show the differences between the versions
      Z     : start a shell to examine the situation
 The default action is to keep your current version.
*** usr.bin.sdwdate (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ?

For general advice, see: Changed Configuration Files.

Package Version Check[edit]

If you need to check your package version, use dpkg -l package-name where package-name is the package you wish to check.

dpkg -l package-name

Your output should look like this: 

Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name           Version      Architecture Description
+++-==============-============-============-===================================
ii  grep           3.8-5        amd64        GNU grep, egrep and fgrep
ii  package-name   0.1          amd64        package-description

If you wish to independently verify the version, you can either access the github of a package and check its changelog.

See list of github repositories.

Go to a github repository. Example github repository:

https://github.com/Kicksecure/sdwdatearchive.org

Click on the debian sub folder.

Click on the changelog file. Example /debian/changelog file:

https://github.com/Kicksecure/sdwdate/blob/master/debian/changelogarchive.org

On the very top of the changelog is the latest version number.

TODO: document how to view the version number using deb.kicksecure.com / deb.whonix.org

related: Package Upgrade Policy

Advanced Topics[edit]

Packages FAQ[edit]

Table: Meta-packages Frequently Asked Questionss

Question Answer
What is the disadvantage of removing a meta package? The disadvantage is any changes in package dependencies will not be automatically processed by the system when it is upgraded.

For example the kicksecure-packages-recommended-gui meta package depends [2] on package tb-updaterarchive.org. If the kicksecure-packages-recommended-gui package is not installed, you would not notice if tb-updater was replacedarchive.org with package torbrowser-launcherarchive.org. tb-updater might become unmaintained, broken or even have unfixed security issues. Kicksecure tries to keep users up-to-date if/when (security relevant) packages are deprecated. If that occurs, you could simply run sudo apt purge tb-updater and consider installing what the Kicksecure meta package recommends as a replacement.

See also: Technical Information.

Which meta packages are safe to remove? Use apt-cache to see the package description.
  • Replace package-name with the package you intend to install.

apt-cache package-name

It will include either:

  • Safe to remove, if you know what you are doing.; or
  • Do not remove.

Note the Removal Instructions below! When that entry is understood, feel free to remove any desktop specific meta packages.

Which packages do Kicksecure meta packages install? Refer to the following files:

Or use for example.

apt-cache show kicksecure-packages-recommended-gui

Which meta packages should never be removed? Do not remove any packages which include the name dependencies, unless the implications are fully understood.

TODO: document

How to uninstall qubes-core-agent-passwordless-root without also uninstalling kicksecure-qubes-gui or kicksecure-qubes-cli?

dummy-dependency --purge qubes-core-agent-passwordless-root

dummy-dependency[edit]

dummy-dependency [3] (man pagearchive.org) can be used to install a dummy dependency package in place of a real dependency package. This allows the uninstallation of packages that are normally not uninstallable, without removing a (meta) package that depends on the original package.

Removal Instructions[edit]

Syntax.

Notes:

  • Optional: --purge. Same as apt-get purge.
  • Optional: --yes. Does not ask for confirmation.

sudo dummy-dependency --yes --purge package-name

Example.

Note: Replace user-sysmaint-split with the actual package you want to remove.

  • Replace user-sysmaint-split with the actual package you want to remove.
  • Optional: --purge. Same as apt-get purge.
  • Optional: --yes. Does not ask for confirmation.

sudo dummy-dependency --yes --purge user-sysmaint-split

forum topic: Issues with removal of specific packages by users / buildersarchive.org.

Technical Information[edit]

Info This section provides technical information for interested readers and can be skipped.

The underlying technical issues with meta packages are not caused by Kicksecure, but instead have been inherited from Debian. Those are also described here:

The Debian manual also provides further information about meta packages:

The Kicksecure build script installs all packages using apt --no-install-recommends. [4] The --no-install-recommends option is being used to prevent installation of many additional packages that are unwanted. For example:

  • kicksecure-packages-recommended-gui (used to) Depends: gwenview.
  • gwenview Recommends: kamera.
  • Without using --no-install-recommends, kamera would also be installed and then pull its own Depends: as well.
  • kamera [+ dependencies] would not be useful to have installed by default on Kicksecure as it would cost unnecessary disk space. There are many more examples which could end up installing packages by default that are unrecommended for privacy reasons.

Since the --no-install-recommends option is used, meta packages like kicksecure-packages-recommended-gui must use the Depends: field and cannot use the Recommends: field. (Since no packages would be installed then.)

Even if Kicksecure could and did use the Recommends: field, new packages added to the Recommends: field would not be installed when the meta package that Recommends: them gets upgraded. This is because packages listed after the Recommends: field only get installed during their initial sudo apt install package-name installation.

Some readers might notice that despite this explanation, kicksecure-meta-packages's debian/control file uses the Recommends: field anyway. This is not a contradiction because it may be useful for a later Kicksecure installation from Kicksecure repository use case.

Forum discussion:
Issues with removal of specific packages by users / buildersarchive.org

See Also[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ↑ Because derivatives of Kicksecure install additional meta packages.
  2. ↑ Depends: field in debian/control
  3. ↑ https://github.com/Kicksecure/helper-scripts/blob/master/usr/bin/dummy-dependencyarchive.org
  4. ↑ Function pkg-install-maybe in https://github.com/Kicksecure/derivative-maker/blob/master/build-steps.d/3500_install-packages#L96C17archive.org.
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