make-debirf's kernel package name checking is broken

[jrollins]

make-debirf's ability to properly check that the kernel package name passed on the command line is broken. it can not properly identify all uninstallable package names. it is currently using "apt-get show $PACKAGE_NAME" to check to see if the parameter is an installable package, but this exits true for some packages that are actually not installable. it also does not check against the dist specified for the debirf.

it is also not checking whether the package name is a proper kernel package or not.

[dkg]

Shouldn't it use apt-cache show instead of apt-get show ? Can you link to a place in the source where this is being done?

[jrollins]

sorry, yes, it's "apt-cache show", in source:trunk/debirf/fs/usr/bin/make-debirf@756​, lines 238-245.

[dkg]

You can also link to the line of code directly​.

[jrollins]

This bug is more serious than i thought. since the package name checking is done on the build system, it fails if the debirf release is different. the only way around it is to install a deb rather than install from the repo.

the check needs to be changed to check the package name against the debirf build release.

[jrollins]

kernel installation is handled differently now, by make-debirf deciding which kernel to install on it's own. therefore this is no longer an issue in v0.10. (it's still difficult, if we wanted to implement it in the future.)