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In this question, we learn how to clean up the duplicate message warnings when running apt-get.

What I am wondering is are these duplicate source messages, blocking, which prevent updates or informational -- do they need to be cleaned up, or are just visual spam?

I can't tell if I have no updates, or if because of the duplicates its not checking further.

Rowan Hawkins
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1 Answers1

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In general, the lines that begin with W are warnings, those with an initial E indicate errors, and N indicates a Note. For example, 

W: http://repo.sinew.in/dists/stable/InRelease: Signature by key B6DA722E2E65721AF54B93966F7565879798C2FC uses weak digest algorithm (SHA1)
E: Failed to fetch http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/xenial/main/source/Sources  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.152 80]
^

For these two, there's nothing to be done at your end for the "weak digest algorithm" - it causes no active harm. However, the "404" error indicates a failure that should be fixed, as it describes a lack of connection/misconfiguration.

In general, in the Linux/Unix world, silence implies success. If the program issues a message, you should least consider it, and try to figure out what it means.

waltinator
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  • I was asking specific to situation in the linked thread. Duplicate entries. I cant tell if there is simply nothing to update, or if because of the duplicate sources it was failing to check. None of my links are reporting 404. I will update the question. Sorry about the delay in responding. – Rowan Hawkins May 23 '18 at 17:13
  • @RowanHawkins Warnings vs. Errors typically remains the same regardless of the specific case. In that thread you reference there's both warnings and errors. Warnings are warnings, Errors are Errors, and that doesn't change on context of what the messages themselves are. Most, if not all, 'warnings' are non-blocking to my knowledge. – Thomas Ward May 23 '18 at 17:17
  • @ThomasWard you say most warnings are not blocking. That would imply that some are blocking. Which variety, blocking or non-blocking are warnings related to duplicate source messages. – Rowan Hawkins May 23 '18 at 17:57
  • @Rowan All the warnings in the context of your post fit the "non blocking" category, and I believe that all warnings are non-blocking but was being cautious with wording. (Therefore: Most, if not all, 'warnings' are non-blocking to my knowledge.) – Thomas Ward May 23 '18 at 18:25