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If I have package(s) installed that are not available in the new Ubuntu release, what will happen if I upgrade to that release via do-release-upgrade?

Nickolai Leschov
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  • The will not be upgraded is what will occur for nearly all. If they have dependencies that become a problem in the upgrade, you'll see this as errors asking what you want to do (which shouldn't occur if you are using packages from Ubuntu repositories, is mostly the case if you use non-Ubuntu sources) which could cause breakage - but only after you are asked to 'force/abort' the issue. In nearly all cases though, those packages will just become orphaned, and remain un-upgraded (and a potential security risk you tend to forget about). – guiverc Aug 02 '18 at 12:52
  • My last comment over-simplified it... Some packages will be removed, it depends on how & why they were installed (or if marked...). If you only used Ubuntu sourced packages you needn't worry. (as to how & why - did you sudo apt-get install them, or did they get installed because they were 'depends', or because they were 'recommends'... etc) – guiverc Aug 02 '18 at 12:53
  • There is no universal answer. The app will not be upgraded. It may work or it may break. It may break the upgrade or apt. https://askubuntu.com/questions/967944/how-can-i-reproduce-the-error-package-needs-to-be-reinstalled-but-i-cant-f it is unlikely to be a problem if the app is in the ubuntu repositories. If you have a problem file a bug report – Panther Aug 02 '18 at 16:18
  • When I upgraded, I got a warning before beginning that several packages I have installed will be obsolete in the new version. At the end of the process, I was asked if I wanted to remove them and I selected yes. Is this not what the question is about? – Zanna Aug 02 '18 at 18:36

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There are basically two possibilities:

In the case where the package will still have all dependencies satisfied, and it is not a leaf package, it will likely remain installed and you can still use the program(s) it provides.

In the case where another package replaces it, dependencies are replaced, is a leaf package, or in similar conflict situations, it will get removed from the system, and to be able to use it again will likely require rebuilding against newer dependencies, or changing to use whatever its replacement is (for example, one should use pkexec instead of gksu in Ubuntu now).

dobey
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