On 05/15/2016 09:47 PM, Florian Zieboll wrote:
> On Sun, 15 May 2016 19:43:02 +0200
> Irrwahn <irrwahn@???> wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 15 May 2016 13:20:47 -0400, Fsmithred wrote:
>>> I have the following file (or equivalent) any time I have more than
>>> one release enabled in sources.list:
>>>
>>> cat /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/00defaultrelease
>>> APT::Default-Release "jessie";
>>>
>>> That way, only packages from jessie will be installed unless I use
>>> the -t option to name a different release.
>
>
> Be careful, this may interfere with your apt pinning. After having put
> your suggested file into apt.conf.d, I added jessie-backports to my
> sources.list and the following well-proven pin didn't take any effect:
>

>     Package: *
>     Pin: release a=jessie-backports
>     Pin-Priority: 200

>
> Bug, or feature? Drove me nuts until I realized that I had added this
> "default release" two hours earlier ;)
>
> Florian
>
> _______________________________________________


> On Sun, 15 May 2016 22:54:33 -0400
> ". fsmithred" <fsmithred@???> wrote:
>
>> Florian,
>>
>> Thanks! I tried pinning backports like that a few weeks ago, and it
>> didn't work. I thought it was due to changes in the way pinning is
>> done. I don't think I ever would have figured that one out on my own.
>> Does the pinning work properly if you remove 00defaultrelease? I
>> can't test this right now, but I will do it in a few days.
>>
>> -fsr
>>
>
>
> Hallo fsr,
>
> I'll reply to the list, hope that's fine... Yes indeed, the
> [APT::Default-Release "jessie";] line seems to suppress apt pinning. My
> first thought had been, that amprolla / the merging workflow somehow
> interferes with pinning, but after a second of alarm I verified that my
> desktop, which runs a similar configuration, has only manually selected
> backports installed.
>
> I also had tried to get backports from another mirror and pin by
> "origin", to no avail. Further experiments fell prey to the lucky fact
> that I remembered (and found) your apt related mail
>
> IIU apt_perferences(5) correctly, the "Default-Release" preference was
> intended to play together with a "NotAutomatic: yes" entry in the
> repository's release file (see section "APT's Default Priority
> Assignments"), but I'm still not sure if its impact on pinning is a bug
> or not.
>
> Florian


Florian,

Your way works. I removed 00defaultrelease and added the pin for
jessie-backports, and now I will get packages from backports only if I ask
for them.

I tried the same with ascii and ceres, and it didn't work at first. I had
to do a couple of things differently. (Both of these are required.)

1. pinning did not work when I used
deb http://packages.devuan.org/devuan ascii main

but it did work when I used
deb http://us.mirror.devuan.org/merged/ ascii main

2. "Pin: release a=ascii" did not work.
but "Pin: release n=ascii" did work.


So now the file (preferences.d/00releases) looks like this:

Package: *
Pin: release a=jessie-backports
Pin-Priority: 200

Package: *
Pin: release n=ascii
Pin-Priority: 90

Package: *
Pin: release n=ceres
Pin-Priority: 50


IMPORTANT NOTE!!! Those of you who are cringing at the thought of mixing
stable, testing and unstable can relax. I'm not mixing. I just like to be
able to easily see what versions of packages are in other releases.

-fsr