#1039597 apt: misleading error message "is to be installed"

Package:
apt
Source:
apt
Description:
commandline package manager
Submitter:
Thomas
Date:
2023-06-27 17:03:04 UTC
Severity:
normal
#1039597#5
Date:
2023-06-27 16:58:50 UTC
From:
To:

    Hi !

    I've always been puzzled by the following error message :
------8<------8<------8<------8<------8<------8<------8<------
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 firefox-l10n-fr : Depends: firefox (>= 114.0.2-1) but 114.0-1 is to be installed
E: Broken packages
------8<------8<------8<------8<------8<------8<------8<------

    Please note that I do not complain about the unability to install
    the package in question but the error message itself.

    Indeed, it says "[firefox] 114.0-1 is to be installed".

    It's obviously wrong. Firefox is _already_ installed :
------8<------8<------8<------8<------8<------8<------8<------ $ dpkg -l | grep firefox ii firefox 114.0-1 amd64 Mozilla Firefox web browser ii firefox-l10n-fr 114.0-1 all French language package for Firefox ------8<------8<------8<------8<------8<------8<------8<------ The error message says that firefox-l10n-fr depends on a newer version of firefox (114.0.2-1). So, the firefox-l10n-fr package cannot be installed because I have an "older" version of firefox. What the error message does not tell us is why the newer version of firefox cannot be installed and thus why the wanted package connot be installed as a result. The line "The following information may help to resolve the situation:" is thus plainly wrong since the displayed message absolutly does not help resolve the situation...