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I just started using Ubuntu. I was trying to get Adobe Reader to work and got stuck on the seemingly common problem Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module". I tried several of the suggestions on this question, including the one described in this answer:

sudo aptitude reinstall libcanberra-gtk-module

The problem was not solved, but that command removed a WHOLE BUNCH of stuff from my machine that I now have to reinstall, including CUDA, Caffe, and others that I didn't get the chance to note down while the whole thing was happening.

Following this answer on Meta, I am posting this information here because I don't have the reputation to comment under the original answer, but I want to warn others against using that command without knowing what they are getting themselves into.

In addition, are there policies I can use in the future to try stuff out without messing my system up as much as I did this time?

wjandrea
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Paparazio
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1 Answers1

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You can use the -s or --simulate option in your command to get information what would happen. From man aptitude:

-s, --simulate

In command-line mode, print the actions that would normally be performed, but don't actually perform them. This does not require root privileges. In the visual interface, always open the cache in read-only mode regardless of whether you are root.

We should not use sudo then, so the command will end up with a permission denied error if we forget the -s option`:

aptitude reinstall -s libcanberra-gtk-module

It works similar with the apt command:

apt reinstall -s libcanberra-gtk-module
wjandrea
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mook765
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