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I'm curious why the python-support package no longer exists in 16.04 - is this related to changing Python3 to be the default? Furthermore, is there any package that "requires" it that actually doesn't install and run ok by forcing the dependencies?

Is there any danger in package maintainers just removing "python-support" from the requirements list, to fix this issue in an update?

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  • It worked for gnome-scheduler, I just had to change python-support to dh-python in Control. In the Rules, I had to change dh_pysupport to dh_python2. Aug 28, 2017 at 3:33

2 Answers 2

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Had the same issue when trying to install cassandra on 16.04. Solved it with:

wget http://launchpadlibrarian.net/109052632/python-support_1.0.15_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i python-support_1.0.15_all.deb

Source: https://github.com/ajenti/ajenti/issues/903#issuecomment-215569332

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  • Thanks so much you saved me from having to install Debian Jessie.
    – Alex Lowe
    Feb 20, 2017 at 18:17
  • you saved my life ...
    – Umair Ayub
    May 10, 2017 at 7:21
  • This solves issues with Folding@home (control and viewer) on 16.04 as well, thanks. Could details be given about launchpadlibrarian.net, or do more generic solutions exist?
    – Tfb9
    Sep 4, 2017 at 21:26
  • Probably not the greatest solution as you are supposed to use dh-python now: bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=787040
    – NoBugs
    Sep 8, 2017 at 3:15
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You linked to the source package, but the python-support package definitely does exist in the binary repositories:

https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/xenial/+package/python-support

I'm not sure why it doesn't show up in the source repos -- maybe because it's just a Python script that can be executed directly, rather than something that requires compilation into a binary in order to be useful.

Does this answer your question, or do you require a package in the "source" repos?

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  • No, they are deleted. From that page, click any architecture and note that the page says status: deleted. For example: launchpad.net/ubuntu/xenial/amd64/python-support/1.0.15
    – NoBugs
    May 2, 2016 at 4:39
  • So does sudo apt-get install python-support actually install something on your system?
    – NoBugs
    May 2, 2016 at 4:40
  • 3
    @NoBugs You're correct -- I shouldn't have been so hasty to say what I said. According to one answer on this bug report: bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/python-support/+bug/1577172 , "python-support was removed from Debian and later from Ubuntu. Please use dh_python2 from dh-python package instead."
    – user533208
    May 2, 2016 at 12:11
  • So should packagers include both: ` python-support | dh-python ` in depends field? This would suggest that would work: debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-relationships.html
    – NoBugs
    May 2, 2016 at 14:41
  • I'm not knowledgeable enough to know the answer to that (I've never packaged anything!). But it does sound reasonable.
    – user533208
    May 2, 2016 at 18:09

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