Why are so many packages removed for the upgrade??

[johann_p]

I just started the upgrade from Gutsy to Hardy and I get informed that "110 packages are going to be removed".
Among those are packages like cinepaint, icepodder, esound, mono, myspell-de-at, xcalc ...

I want these packages, why does Ubuntu remove them?

What is going on here?

I canceled the upgrade because I do not want all these packages to get removed.

[Sef]

Those packages will be updated or removed if there are other packages replacing them. Any upgrade provides newer packages than the existing ones as well as new packages that were not in the operating system.

[elustran]

I chose to not remove those packages. I didn't want to remove something that might have been used by another program. If that will cause a problem, is there any way to remove them after I've upgraded?

[johann_p]

Those packages will be updated or removed if there are other packages replacing them. Any upgrade provides newer packages than the existing ones as well as new packages that were not in the operating system.

I do not understand: if the package is newer, will it not just get updated as thousands of other ones?
And if there is a replacement package, I should at least find it in the list of newly installed packages .. but I cannot find most of the ones that interest me. There is nothing similar to icepodder in the list of newly installed packahes.

I find this highly irritating: if there is some reason why a package must be removed, why isn't Ubuntu telling me about that reason?
If there is an alternative for a package that Ubuntu wants to install, why isn't Ubuntu informing me about that alternative so I can make a decision?

Is there a way to tell Ubuntu that it should NOT remove those packages or do they HAVE to get removed?

I have 3053 packages installed now in Gutsy and I had a reason to install all of them. Now I want a reason why Ubuntu wants to remove them.

[johann_p]

I chose to not remove those packages. I didn't want to remove something that might have been used by another program. If that will cause a problem, is there any way to remove them after I've upgraded?

How? I only get the choice between starting the upgrade and accepting everything Ubuntu decided to do or cancelling the upgrade

[mivo]

They were probably renamed or replaced, or meta packages changed.

[elustran]

yes, but will there be a problem if they're kept, and if so, is there a way to uninstall them?

[johann_p]

They were probably renamed or replaced, or meta packages changed.

So does this mean I do not have to worry about losing any of the software after the upgrade?

[mivo]

I'm fairly sure that you don't have to worry about losing any applications. If you do, though, they can probably be re-installed very quickly (settings are saved in your home partition, which the upgrade doesn't touch).

I should add a disclaimer, though: I always do a fresh install when I upgrade to the next Ubuntu version (separate home partition, so it's painless), because it's faster and, I feel, cleaner. So take my opinion with a grain of salt, though I think accepting the upgrader's choices is relatively risk-free.

[elustran]

I was hoping I wouldn't have to do a fresh install with this upgrade because I had heard that the newer version had improved installation capabilities. So far, that hasn't been the case. Maybe I shouldn't have upgraded - the only operable difference I notice is that things that worked before don't work now. I'm getting a little tired of rewriting my config files all the time.