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    Created: 12 Feb 2006    

grep-dctrl patch

grep-dctrl is a handy utility for Debian systems to search the databases of installed and available packages. However, its error handling leaves a little to be desired; if it hits a syntax error in one of those databases (which are just big text files), it bombs with an error message, but no indication of where the error occurred. Grrr.

This wouldn't be a problem if every Debian package in the universe were completely correct, but at least one is not: NeroLINUX. (Yeah, OK, you can give me a hard time for using commercial closed-source software on my Debian system. Talk to me as soon I can burn a DVD with open source software without spending hours poring over obscure web pages written by semi-literate geeks and clawing my way through the endless "cdrecord vs. Linux" saga. Yawwwwn.)

Anyways, I finally got tired of being unable to use grep-dctrl for unknown reasons, so I fixed its error reporting. Here's the patch. Oh yeah, this is also reported as Debian Bug #205044. However, as I write this, the initial bug report is over two years old, so I figured I'd put up my own page on the matter.