Improve upgrade package solver #165
Description
synaptic provides 2 upgrade options:
- default upgrade: only upgrade packages.
- smart upgrade: upgrade, add, and remove packages as needed.
in contrast, apt provides 2 different upgrade options:
- upgrade and add packages.
- upgrade, add, and remove packages.
turns out options in synaptic are extreme and not really useful:
- default upgrade mostly lacks a real rationale to exist.
- smart upgrade is dangerous and not what you want most of the time.
(smart upgrade is also very broken, but that is another issue altogether.)
the really useful option 99% is "upgrade and add packages" and is missing from synaptic.
there are two solutions:
- repurpose the default upgrade UI option to "upgrade and add packages" semantics.
- or add a 3rd option, which is more UI work.
i am not a fan of introducing unnecessary jargon, such as "default" and "smart" upgrade. if a UI change was implemented, i would go for no-jargon, explicit options:
- in the "Mark all upgrades..." dialog, i would show "Select which operations are acceptable to fulfill dependencies and resolve conflicts during the upgrade:" followed by radio buttons with descriptions.
- in the preferences dialog i would use a drop-down box, just like now, but with descriptions instead of jargon. (idk why existing options are capitalized here.)
the descriptions for the options would be:
- "Only upgrade packages"
- "Upgrade and add packages"
- "Upgrade, add, and remove packages"
in case jargon is preferred (not my take on things), jargon could be:
- simple or basic upgrade
- safe upgrade
- unrestricted or unsafe upgrade
thanks!