Can I make dist-upgrade list the packages it will install?

Question

I'm thinking about upgrading my Intrepid Ibex Ubuntu installation to Jaunty Jackalope, but I want to know if any of the new packages it installs will conflict with the many libraries I've installed. Is there a way to make it list the packages it will install without actually installing anything? Thanks.

Answer 1

As far as I know, you should be able to use the standard options with apt-get dist-upgrade to simulate running this command without actually performing the upgrade.

   -s, --simulate, --just-print, --dry-run, --recon, --no-act
       No action; perform a simulation of events that would occur but do not actually change the
       system. Configuration Item: APT::Get::Simulate.

       Simulate prints out a series of lines each one representing a dpkg operation, Configure (Conf),
       Remove (Remv), Unpack (Inst). Square brackets indicate broken packages with and empty set of
       square brackets meaning breaks that are of no consequence (rare).


   -u, --show-upgraded
       Show upgraded packages; Print out a list of all packages that are to be upgraded. Configuration
       Item: APT::Get::Show-Upgraded.