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In this question, we learn how to clean up the duplicate message warnings when running apt-get.

What I am wondering is are these duplicate source messages, blocking, which prevent updates or informational -- do they need to be cleaned up, or are just visual spam?

I can't tell if I have no updates, or if because of the duplicates its not checking further.

Rowan Hawkins
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1 Answers1

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In general, the lines that begin with W are warnings, those with an initial E indicate errors, and N indicates a Note. For example, 

W: http://repo.sinew.in/dists/stable/InRelease: Signature by key B6DA722E2E65721AF54B93966F7565879798C2FC uses weak digest algorithm (SHA1)
E: Failed to fetch http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/xenial/main/source/Sources  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.152 80]
^

For these two, there's nothing to be done at your end for the "weak digest algorithm" - it causes no active harm. However, the "404" error indicates a failure that should be fixed, as it describes a lack of connection/misconfiguration.

In general, in the Linux/Unix world, silence implies success. If the program issues a message, you should least consider it, and try to figure out what it means.

waltinator
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  • I was asking specific to situation in the linked thread. Duplicate entries. I cant tell if there is simply nothing to update, or if because of the duplicate sources it was failing to check. None of my links are reporting 404. I will update the question. Sorry about the delay in responding. – Rowan Hawkins May 23 '18 at 17:13
  • @RowanHawkins Warnings vs. Errors typically remains the same regardless of the specific case. In that thread you reference there's both warnings *and* errors. Warnings are warnings, Errors are Errors, and that doesn't change on context of what the messages themselves are. Most, if not all, 'warnings' are non-blocking to my knowledge. – Thomas Ward May 23 '18 at 17:17
  • @ThomasWard you say _most_ warnings are not blocking. That would imply that _some_ are blocking. Which variety, blocking or non-blocking are warnings related to duplicate source messages. – Rowan Hawkins May 23 '18 at 17:57
  • @Rowan All the warnings in the context of your post fit the "non blocking" category, and I believe that all warnings are non-blocking but was being cautious with wording. (Therefore: Most, if not all, 'warnings' are non-blocking to my knowledge.) – Thomas Ward May 23 '18 at 18:25