Long package descriptions are unavailable by default in Neon

[blkeller]

While playing around with a new installation of KDE Neon LTS User Edition, I was surprised to find that the full, long package descriptions as shown by apt-cache show my-package-name were completely missing, and only the one-liner summary descriptions were shown:

brett@neon-test:~$ apt-cache show dolphin
Package: dolphin
Priority: optional
Section: utils
Installed-Size: 3237
Maintainer: Ubuntu Developers <ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com>
Original-Maintainer: Debian/Kubuntu Qt/KDE Maintainers <debian-qt-kde@lists.debian.org>
Architecture: amd64
Version: 4:16.12.3-0neon+16.04+build5
[...snip...]
Description: file manager
Description-md5: 5639ca651f29a0317186a35d903400af
Homepage: http://www.kde.org/

brett@neon-test:~$ apt-cache show konqueror
Package: konqueror
Priority: optional
Section: web
Installed-Size: 3401
Maintainer: Ubuntu Developers <ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com>
Original-Maintainer: Debian/Kubuntu Qt/KDE Maintainers <debian-qt-kde@lists.debian.org>
Architecture: amd64
Version: 4:16.12.3-0neon+16.04+build15
[...snip...]
Description: advanced file manager, web browser and document viewer
Description-md5: 380ac71ee28aebaea27c8d3f2b37b14e
Homepage: http://www.kde.org/

brett@neon-test:~$ apt-cache show kate
Package: kate
Priority: optional
Section: editors
Installed-Size: 5189
Maintainer: Ubuntu Developers <ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com>
Original-Maintainer: Debian/Kubuntu Qt/KDE Maintainers <debian-qt-kde@lists.debian.org>
Architecture: amd64
Version: 4:16.12.3-0neon+16.04+build9
[...snip...]
Description: powerful text editor
Description-md5: ab2572368eb6cf239ac558f6cd35a97c
Homepage: http://kate-editor.org/

The effect is stranger in Muon, where the package description is rendered as the summary line with the first letter chopped off. Here are the same three example packages seen in Muon:

I found that the Acquire::Languages "none"; line in /etc/apt/apt.conf is responsible for this behavior. This directive is included as a part of the build process here:
https://github.com/blue-systems/pangea-tooling/blob/218f59207a9c0dcba40c8146d3ffd684ac39b890/nci/imager/config-hooks-neon/apt.conf.sh#L3

Changing this line in /etc/apt/apt.conf to Acquire::Languages "environment"; and performing a sudo apt-get update solved the problem on my system:

brett@neon-test:~$ apt-cache show dolphin
Package: dolphin
Priority: optional
Section: utils
Installed-Size: 3237
Maintainer: Ubuntu Developers <ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com>
Original-Maintainer: Debian/Kubuntu Qt/KDE Maintainers <debian-qt-kde@lists.debian.org>
Architecture: amd64
Version: 4:16.12.3-0neon+16.04+build5
[...snip...]
Description-en: file manager
 Dolphin is the default file manager in the Plasma, intended
 to be both powerful and easy to use.
 .
 Features include:
   Customisable sidebars
   "Breadcrumb" navigation
   View properties remembered for each folder
   Split views
   Network transparency
   Undo/redo functionality
   Ratings, comments, and tags
Description-md5: 5639ca651f29a0317186a35d903400af
Homepage: http://www.kde.org/

brett@neon-test:~$ apt-cache show konqueror
Package: konqueror
Priority: optional
Section: web
Installed-Size: 3401
Maintainer: Ubuntu Developers <ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com>
Original-Maintainer: Debian/Kubuntu Qt/KDE Maintainers <debian-qt-kde@lists.debian.org>
Architecture: amd64
Version: 4:16.12.3-0neon+16.04+build15
[...snip...]
Description-en: advanced file manager, web browser and document viewer
 Konqueror is the KDE web browser and advanced file manager.
 .
 Konqueror is a standards-compliant web browser, supporting HTML 4.01, Java,
 JavaScript, CSS3, and Netscape plugins such as Flash.
 .
 It supports advanced file management on local UNIX filesystems, with flexible
 views, network transparency, and embedded file viewing.
 .
 It is the canvas for many KDE technologies, from remote file access via KIO to
 component embedding via the KParts object interface, making it one of the most
 customizable applications available.
 .
 This package is part of the KDE base applications module.
Description-md5: 380ac71ee28aebaea27c8d3f2b37b14e
Homepage: http://www.kde.org/

brett@neon-test:~$ apt-cache show kate
Package: kate
Priority: optional
Section: editors
Installed-Size: 5189
Maintainer: Ubuntu Developers <ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com>
Original-Maintainer: Debian/Kubuntu Qt/KDE Maintainers <debian-qt-kde@lists.debian.org>
Architecture: amd64
Version: 4:16.12.3-0neon+16.04+build9
[...snip...]
Description-en: powerful text editor
 Kate is a powerful text editor that can open multiple files simultaneously.
 .
 With a built-in terminal, syntax highlighting, and tabbed sidebar, it performs
 as a lightweight but capable development environment.  Kate's many tools,
 plugins, and scripts make it highly customizable.
 .
 Kate's features include:
 .
  * Multiple saved sessions, each with numerous files
  * Scriptable syntax highlighting, indentation, and code-folding
  * Configurable templates and text snippets
  * Symbol viewers for C, C++, and Python
  * XML completion and validation
Description-md5: ab2572368eb6cf239ac558f6cd35a97c
Homepage: http://kate-editor.org/

Muon displays descriptions normally now as well, though I'll spare you the screenshots.

Would changing this line in your build script be an acceptable fix? @jriddell, I'm not sure what the original intent behind this configuration directive was, so I don't want to presume that changing it for all users would be appropriate. Should I be worried about any unforeseen consequences on my own system from making this change locally to /etc/apt/apt.conf?

Thanks for all of your work putting together KDE Neon. I'm just kicking the tires on it right now, but I'm strongly considering switching from Kubuntu to Neon User LTS for my main rig.