Comment 64 for bug 1607535

Jeremy, comment 59:

> the next Ubuntu bugfix update for this package (if there is one)
> will be numbered something like 3.4+nmu1ubuntu2.1

It would be 3.4+nmu1ubuntu3 I believe. But there will be no new version of this package to fix this bug, as it has to be fixed in another package (apt), not in this package (ttf-mscorefonts-installer).

cbcymru, comment 60:

> So have those of us who have switched to version 3.6, and there
> seem to be many, left our computers vulnerable?

Only if there is a security vulnerability in Debian's v3.6 ttf-mscorefonts-installer, and only if it is found...

> When the 3.4 version bug is finally fixed how could we switch back
> to the fixed version 3.4?

I was just wondering about that and it seems as trivial as using dpkg with the "purge" action (-P, --purge) instead of the "install" action (-i, --install):

  $ dpkg -P /path/to/ttf-mscorefonts-installer_3.6_all.deb

And then you'd install the Ubuntu package. Running what Jeremy proposes in comment 61 would also install the Ubuntu package but without uninstalling the Debian package before, and given that these packages have differences, I'd rather be on the safe side and run whatever pre-removal and post-removal scripts are included in the Debian package.

cbcymru, comment 62:

> If you should discover how to stop the install prompt before
> the fix is found, please post the details.

Lesley Binks in comment 18 suggests removing the file:

  /var/lib/update-notifier/user.d/data-downloads-failed

which he says triggers the message. Unfortunately he hasn't reported yet if it works and is safe. Also, note that this is in the context of Vincent Gerris's workaround in comment 17, not in the context of using Debian's version 3.6.

Obviously, if you don't need Microsoft's Core Fonts, you may just uninstall the package.