Package upgrade step breaks system because it downgrades base-files package

[vanxa]

On Ubuntu 24, the step:

for a in $(apt-forktracer |awk '{print $1}' |sort); do apt reinstall $a/bookworm -uy --allow-downgrades;done

downgrades the base-files package, which results in a total system break.

[alexmyczko]

yes this is likely to only work for Ubuntu versions BEFORE Debian bookworm, for reasons.

if you want this to work, you can either: use $a/sid (and switch to Debian sid), OR wait for a Debian stable release AFTER "Ubuntu 24", and the use it with that release name (Debian 13 likely to be trixie)

[vanxa]

OK, so a potential migration path would be:

Ubuntu -> Debian 11 -> upgrade to Debian 12?

[alexmyczko]

no it depends if the package versions in ubuntu are generally older or newer in debian, if they are newer in debian, it's more likely to work. really this script is not for general use. it's just go get you an idea to do what google did (they switched from ubuntu to debian (testing?)), and just recently openstreetmaps did the same, so are doing many more individuals)