[maemo-developers] [maemo-developers] dpkg -i error?

[From: Marius Vollmer]

"ext maemo-developers-bounces at maemo.org" <maemo-developers-bounces at maemo.org> writes:

> I found out the answer myself.
>
> ln -s /var/lib/install/var/lib/dpkg /var/lib/dpkg

Uh oh, that is not really recommended.  If you really want to use dpkg
with the root filesystem, you should make a new, empty package
database in /var/lib/dpkg.  Using one package database for two
different "--instdir"s will likely cause confusion.

Start with 

  # mkdir /var/lib/dpkg /var/lib/dpkg/info
  # cd /var/lib/dpkg && touch available status 

and then fix things by creating empty files, etc until dpkg works.

> Why is the /var/lib/dpkg be made /var/lib/install/var/lib/dpkg?  I
> wonder!

The theory behind /var/lib/install directory is intended as a safety
net for user installed applications.  Installing a package can not
accidentally modify the root filesystem.

In practice, I think, it causes more grief than it helps prevent
accidents.  The IT 2006 release has a proper dpkg package database in
/var/lib/dpkg and /var/lib/install is gone.