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getmail version question

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unicyclist
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getmail version question

#1 Post by unicyclist »

I use Debian testing and am having a problem with getmail:

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$ apt search getmail4
Sorting... Done
Full Text Search... Done
getmail4/testing,now 4.53.0-1 all [installed]
  mail retriever with support for POP3, IMAP4 and SDPS

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$ getmail --version
getmail 4.43.0
I've purged getmail and then installed it, but I get the same output again when I run getmail --version.
Based on a problem with getmail, I believe getmail 4.43 is what is installed and not the newer 4.53 which apt says is installed.

Any ideas/help?

Thanks!

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dasein
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Re: getmail version question

#2 Post by dasein »

If you truly believe you have 4.43 installed, the first question I'd want answered is exactly how you managed to install a getmail version from 2013 (particularly on Testing). I've not researched exhaustively, but I don't see anything to indicate that Debian ever shipped getmail 4.43. (Wheezy shipped with getmail 4.46, and Squeeze shipped two years prior to version 4.43.)

Did you install 4.43 manually (which means apt knowns nothing about it)? Or do we need to have the sources conversation?

(P.S. Complete revision history of getmail available here: http://pyropus.ca/software/getmail/CHANGELOG)

unicyclist
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Re: getmail version question

#3 Post by unicyclist »

Thanks. You are basically asking the same question I'm asking :)
Getmail was installed via apt-get, which the apt search command shows. I don't think apt will record a program that is manually installed, but I may be wrong on that :)
I only have one getmail program installed. However, when running getmail --version, that shows different version than what apt says is installed.

I have even run apt-get purge getmail and then apt-get install getmail4 and I get the same outputs as in original post.
I've been running getmail for several years and on different systems and also am on the getmail mail list, so I keep up with announcements of newer versions.

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stevepusser
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Re: getmail version question

#4 Post by stevepusser »

What is the history of getmail on your system in question? Has it ever had that older version affect it in any way?

As a data point, it's safe to install the Stretch version from its deb on Jessie, helped by the fact that it's a Python program, and it returns the correct version. I would suspect some cruft left behind by an install of the older version.
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dilberts_left_nut
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Re: getmail version question

#5 Post by dilberts_left_nut »

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which getmail
?
AdrianTM wrote:There's no hacker in my grandma...

unicyclist
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Re: getmail version question

#6 Post by unicyclist »

stevepusser, I use the getmail that apt-get dist-upgrade installs/upgrades :)

dilberts_left_nut , which getmail is /usr/bin/getmail...where apt-get installed it :)

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$ which getmail
/usr/bin/getmail
again,

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$ /usr/bin/getmail --version
getmail 4.43.0
as root:

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# apt-get install --reinstall getmail4
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/172 kB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
(Reading database ... 168893 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../getmail4_4.53.0-1_all.deb ...
Unpacking getmail4 (4.53.0-1) over (4.53.0-1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.6.1-2) ...
Setting up getmail4 (4.53.0-1) ...
root@pixieII:~# getmail --version
getmail 4.43.0
root@pixieII:~# which getmail
/usr/bin/getmail

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Re: getmail version question

#7 Post by stevepusser »

Is this a brand-new, pristine install of Stretch, including your home folder, or is there some holdover cruft possible from the older version that the installation has been exposed to? Since no one else can duplicate your problem, especially on a new Stretch install, I have to lean toward that being the case.
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unicyclist
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Re: getmail version question

#8 Post by unicyclist »

Been running testing on this machine for about the past 4 yrs, so whatever apt-get has installed, is what I've been using.
Before my first post about the problem in versions, I saw the difference so ran apt-get purge getmail. I then did apt-get install getmail4 and checked what apt-get installed and what getmail --version showed. When it showed the same problem, I decided to post here.

Guess I'll just watch and see what happens when apt-get dist-upgrade upgrades getmail to the latest version. According to the getmail website, it is 4.54.0. Debian testing is at 4.53.0-1.

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Re: getmail version question

#9 Post by stevepusser »

unicyclist wrote:Been running testing on this machine for about the past 4 yrs, so whatever apt-get has installed, is what I've been using.
Before my first post about the problem in versions, I saw the difference so ran apt-get purge getmail. I then did apt-get install getmail4 and checked what apt-get installed and what getmail --version showed. When it showed the same problem, I decided to post here.

Guess I'll just watch and see what happens when apt-get dist-upgrade upgrades getmail to the latest version. According to the getmail website, it is 4.54.0. Debian testing is at 4.53.0-1.
Hmmm...since Stretch is frozen, 4.54.0 won't be making it into the new testing repo until after it's released.
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Dai_trying
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Re: getmail version question

#10 Post by Dai_trying »

I would check if you have set an alias to a home-brew script calling getmail, or another installed version that maybe pointing to a different location, and also if you have mlocate installed you can do a search of your system for getmail (in case there is another version installed) simply using

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locate getmail
, this will list any file with getmail in it's name or path. It might show some files you were not aware of. I installed getmail and checked it's version and it showed as being correct, so the (amd64) package is definitely not the problem.

unicyclist
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Re: getmail version question

#11 Post by unicyclist »

Did a locate before I did "apt-get purge getmail" and then after installing it the second time.
No files anywhere, and again, only getmail on this system is /usr/bin/getmail.
I even did a "which getmail" after the purge, and before installing it the second time, and there wasn't one.


Thanks everybody for trying to help. Much appreciated. I'll just wait and see what happens when Debian upgrades to new version and see what happens.
I run Testing, and have for years. I've used Debian since either Buzz or Rex with dpkg and dselect. I'll get by :)

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