From: jak@debian.org   
      
   On Mon, Feb 09, 2026 at 02:56:12AM +0100, Vincent Lefevre wrote:   
   > Package: apt   
   > Version: 3.1.15   
   > Severity: normal   
   >   
   > I get the following:   
   >   
   > qaa:~> apt upgrade -s | grep '^Inst libbs2b0'   
   >   
   > WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in   
   scripts.   
   >   
   > Inst libbs2b0 [3.1.0+dfsg-8+b1] (3.1.0+dfsg-8+b2 Debian:testing,   
   Debian:unstable [amd64]) []   
   > qaa:~> apt-get upgrade -s | grep '^Inst libbs2b0'   
   > Inst libbs2b0 [3.1.0+dfsg-8+b1] (3.1.0+dfsg-8+b2 Debian:testing,   
   Debian:unstable [amd64])   
   >   
   > For the first one, I get empty square brackets, but not for the   
   > second one.   
   >   
   > With "apt install -s libbs2b0" and "apt-get install -s libbs2b0",   
   > there are no empty square brackets.   
   >   
   > Moreover, the apt-get(8) man page says for -s (--simulate):   
   >   
   >   Square brackets indicate broken packages, and empty square brackets   
   >   indicate breaks that are of no consequence (rare).   
   >   
   > but actually, this is quite common:   
   >   
   > qaa:~> apt upgrade -s | grep -c '^Inst .* \[\]$'   
   >   
   > WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in   
   scripts.   
   >   
   > 145   
   > qaa:~> apt-get upgrade -s | grep -c '^Inst .* \[\]$'   
   > 131   
      
   I'd be happy to consider looking at any concrete bugs you encounter;   
   but comparing two different commands* and saying they behave differently   
   isn't very helpful.   
      
   * apt upgrade is roughly apt-get upgrade --with-new-pkgs;   
     apt-get upgrade is roughly apt upgrade --without-new-pkgs;   
     but of course there are more differences, and the interface   
     is versioned now; see apt-config dump | grep ^Version for all   
     features enabled in 1.0 and newer (apt-get is the 0.x compat mode)   
   --   
   debian developer - deb.li/jak | jak-linux.org - free software dev   
   ubuntu core developer                              i speak de, en   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)