Keyboard Philosopher

If you happen to come across the following error while using dpkg (or apt-get):

dpkg: ../../src/packages.c:191: process_queue: Assertion `dependtry <= 4' failed
.
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg exited unexpectedly

The solution is as simple as:

# dpkg --configure -a --force-depends

According to Antti-Juhani Kaijanaho:

There are two known triggers for that bug:

  * A package depends on itself.  (This is a bug in the package.)

  * There is a dependency loop which involves a virtual package.
    (This would be valid use of the dependency fields, if this bug did
    not exist.)

As all my GNU/Linux friends probably know, Windows Vista (formerly ‘Longhorn’) Beta 1 has been released. Many sites are posting screenshots of the new features. Some of the new things are cool: virtual folders, in-file searches, etc. I was a bit impressed at first, but then I realized that every new feature in Vista is available on Linux systems already, although many are not standardly deployed yet. So my respect for the new features was reduced to a respect for their ability to get these features out the door and widely available at a faster rate.

Then I stumbled upon the article I’m So Excited by Microsoft Vista. Not., which restored my perspective on the situation. Yeah, these tools are not available in a stock Linux distro yet, but Vista is at least a year off. Where will we be by then? Pssst…have you seen GNOME 2.12 yet?