The most likely explanation is the following:
- You have the proposed repository enabled.
- Upgrades for the open office packages were uploaded to the proposed repository.
- You upgraded the open office packages from the proposed repository.
- The proposed upgrades were rejected and subsequently removed from the proposed repository.
- Synaptic can no longer find the open office packages with the same or newer version in any repository and declares the installed packages as "local or obsolete".
There is a more detailed explanation about the meaning of "local or obsolete" in this question: What does "local or obsolete" mean in Synaptic.
The proposed repository is a repository for, as the name says, proposed updates. If they are approved then the packages are transfered to another "stable" repository and all is good. If they are not approved then they are simply removed from the proposed repository. The transfer and the removal happens silently. There is no notification mechanism (that I know of) which notifies the user of these changes. That means if you have the proposed repository enabled you might get "local or obsolete" packages at any time without warning.
Note that it is not recommended to have the proposed repository enabled on a production system. The Proposed repository is meant for package testers only. I did not know this before and had the proposed repository enabled. I have now disabled the proposed repository after learning about it's purpose and the consequences.
There are two methods to "fix" the situation. With "fix" I mean doing something so the packages are no longer listed under "local or obsolete".
- Wait for the packages to be upgraded again. Hopefully, this time the proposed upgrade will stick.
- Remove the proposed repository and force each package to downgrade to the latest version available in a "stable" repository.
The first method is easy. Just wait. But possibly wait forever if the packages are never upgraded again.
The second method is not as easy and can be quite troublesome, especially if the package has other packages depending on it. An explanation how to downgrade from proposed is provided in the answers to this question: How can I revert back from an upgrade to the Proposed repository?.
Regarding:
Cannot load tips.txt file, please install perf!
I had the same issue on Ubuntu 18.04. TL;DR the error message is benign.
The tips.txt file comes from: https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commits/master/tools/perf/Documentation/tips.txt
As described in the original commit the purpose of this file is to show a random usage tip on the help line.
So if you wanted to get rid of the message, copy the appropriate
tips.txt
to /usr/share/doc/perf-tip/tips.txt
.
Best Answer
As part of the creation of Ubuntu, a philosophical choice was made to not have a concept of "maintainer" for individual software packages. While there are many benefits to this, one of the side effects is that for a given software package, there is often no individual who has accepted responsibility to maintain a package, with the result that any package which does not attract anyone's interest in a while may become unmaintained (although it is hoped this is a temporary condition).
Ubuntu inherits packages from Debian, except where there has been a deliberate effort to make some change, so any package present in Debian will be present in Ubuntu, barring very unusual circumstances. As these packages do have someone in Debian who is responsible for making them work in Debian, there is a blanket presumption that they will also work in Ubuntu, which is true for the vast majority of packages, but may not be the case for some specific packages.
Ubuntu also sometimes receives new packages not found in Debian: while it is hoped that whoever decided to contribute the package to Ubuntu will continue to care for it, this is not always the case.
Both methods by which apparently unmaintained packages may be present in Ubuntu are essentially the result of neglect, and are mostly waiting for someone to decide to either remove the packages or make them work (with a strong preference for making them work). Ubuntu is an entirely community-based project, so anyone can do this, although new folk will require a current developer to approve their changes in the beginning.
For easycrypt, after confirming that upstream no longer offered support, I have summarised my investigation, and forwarded the bug to the Ubuntu Archive Administrators, who should be removing the package from the current development release soonish, so that it will no longer be presented for future releases of Ubuntu. A better solution would be also to add a patch to the truecrypt package providing migration support for easycrypt users to use the truecrypt GUI: this needs to be done by someone familiar with the packages.
For firestarter, it appears that there was a patch made which was known to work with Ubuntu in the past, but that it was dropped in a later upload (by the patch author). I don't know enough about firestarter to determine the right solution, but it does appear to be maintained in Debian: someone who uses this tool would need to determine precisely which parts aren't working, and prepare a patch to make them work again, preferably including any required packaging changes to enable immediate upload.
Anyone preparing either of the patches described above (truecrypt transition for easycrypt users or fixing firestarter) may find https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SponsorshipProcess useful as a means to ensure their work is included in Ubuntu.