Suspicious things when installing 1.7.4 deb

[rrebollo]

Some postinstall script failed when using gdebi for installation. Then using apt this:

 sudo apt install --reinstall ./OpenWhispr-1.7.4-linux-amd64.deb
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Note, selecting 'open-whispr' instead of './OpenWhispr-1.7.4-linux-amd64.deb'
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/414 MB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 /home/roly/Downloads/OpenWhispr-1.7.4-linux-amd64.deb open-whispr amd64 1.7.4 [414 MB]
(Reading database ... 690489 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../OpenWhispr-1.7.4-linux-amd64.deb ...
Unpacking open-whispr (1.7.4) over (1.7.4) ...
Setting up open-whispr (1.7.4) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.27-2build1) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.17-2) ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.36.0-1.1ubuntu3) ...
Processing triggers for mate-menus (1.26.1+mint1) ...
Processing triggers for mailcap (3.70+nmu1ubuntu1) ...
N: Download is performed unsandboxed as root as file '$HOME/Downloads/OpenWhispr-1.7.4-linux-amd64.deb' couldn't be accessed by user '_apt'. - pkgAcquire::Run (13: Permission denied)

[xAlcahest]

The apt note at the end is harmless and unrelated to the package. When you install a local .deb, apt tries to read it as its sandboxed _apt user, and since your home directory isn't readable by that user it falls back to copying the file as root and prints that warning. It happens with any local .deb installed from ~/Downloads and doesn't affect the result: your output shows the package configured fine ("Setting up open-whispr (1.7.4)"). Moving the file to /tmp before installing makes the note go away, if it bothers you.

The gdebi failure is the part I'd like to pin down, but I can't tell much without the actual error. I pulled the postinst out of the 1.7.4 deb and checked the maintainer scripts of the dependencies gdebi would have installed alongside it (ydotool and ydotoold on noble ship none at all), and nothing there explains a script failing under gdebi but passing under apt on the same machine.

Could you share:

• the exact error gdebi printed (or a screenshot of the dialog)
• whether you used gdebi-gtk (double click on the .deb) or sudo gdebi from a terminal
• your Mint version

[rrebollo]

Could you share:

• the exact error gdebi printed (or a screenshot of the dialog)
• whether you used gdebi-gtk (double click on the .deb) or sudo gdebi from a terminal
• your Mint version

I used gdebi-gtk

[code]
System:
Kernel: 6.8.0-134-generic arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.3.0 clocksource: tsc
Desktop: Cinnamon v: 6.6.7 tk: GTK v: 3.24.41 wm: Muffin v: 6.6.3 vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.30.0
Distro: Linux Mint 22.3 Zena base: Ubuntu 24.04 noble
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Inspiron 15 3520 v: N/A serial: Chassis:
type: 10 serial:
Mobo: Dell model: 0HX1P6 v: A00 serial: part-nu: 0BB2
uuid: UEFI: Dell v: 1.41.0 date: 04/23/2026
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 26.1 Wh (100.0%) condition: 26.1/40.0 Wh (65.2%) volts: 12.3 min: 11.2
model: COM DELL 927N535 type: Li-poly serial: status: full
CPU:
Info: quad core model: 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1155G7 bits: 64 type: MT MCP smt: enabled
arch: Tiger Lake rev: 2 cache: L1: 320 KiB L2: 5 MiB L3: 8 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 1921 high: 4441 min/max: 400/4500 cores: 1: 3873 2: 400 3: 4441 4: 612 5: 400
6: 2636 7: 400 8: 2610 bogomips: 39936
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel TigerLake-LP GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel
arch: Gen-12.1 ports: active: eDP-1 empty: HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 0000:00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:9a49
class-ID: 0300
Device-2: Realtek Integrated_Webcam_HD driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
lanes: 1 bus-ID: 1-6:4 chip-ID: 0bda:5522 class-ID: fe01 serial:
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.11 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22") s-diag: 582mm (22.93")
Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: LG Display 0x06c4 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 142
size: 344x194mm (13.54x7.64") diag: 395mm (15.5") modes: 1920x1080
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris platforms: device: 0 drv: iris device: 1 drv: swrast gbm:
drv: iris surfaceless: drv: iris x11: drv: iris inactive: wayland
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.2.8-0ubuntu0.24.04.2 glx-v: 1.4
direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel Iris Xe Graphics (TGL GT2) device-ID: 8086:9a49
API: Vulkan v: 1.3.275 layers: 3 surfaces: xcb,xlib device: 0 type: integrated-gpu driver: N/A
device-ID: 8086:9a49 device: 1 type: cpu driver: N/A device-ID: 10005:0000
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
bus-ID: 0000:00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a0c8 class-ID: 0403
API: ALSA v: k6.8.0-134-generic status: kernel-api
Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 status: active
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter driver: rtw_8821ce v: N/A
port: 3000 bus-ID: 0000:01:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:c821 class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp1s0 state: up mac:
IF-ID-1: br-499fec497fa9 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: unknown mac:
IF-ID-2: br-6ea7d73e5210 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: unknown mac:
IF-ID-3: br-7a4f109e09ff state: down mac:
IF-ID-4: br-f0c9271e4c3f state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: unknown mac:
IF-ID-5: docker0 state: down mac:
IF-ID-6: veth4d55d07 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: full mac:
IF-ID-7: veth4e180b5 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: full mac:
IF-ID-8: veth6c308e2 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: full mac:
IF-ID-9: veth7cbb1dd state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: full mac:
IF-ID-10: vetha50bed2 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: full mac:
IF-ID-11: vethd165b1f state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: full mac:
IF-ID-12: vethe2ea002 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: full mac:
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Realtek Bluetooth Radio driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1
bus-ID: 1-10:5 chip-ID: 0bda:c829 class-ID: e001 serial:
Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 13 state: down bt-service: enabled,running rfk-block:
hardware: no software: yes address:
RAID:
Hardware-1: Intel Volume Management Device NVMe RAID Controller driver: vmd v: 0.6 port: N/A
bus-ID: 0000:00:0e.0 chip-ID: 8086:9a0b rev: class-ID: 0104
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 356.52 GiB (38.3%)
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Western Digital model: WD Green SN350 1TB 2G0C size: 931.51 GiB
speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: fw-rev: 236050WD temp: 44.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 91.11 GiB used: 33.56 GiB (36.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6
ID-2: /boot/efi size: 396 MiB used: 66.3 MiB (16.7%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
ID-3: /home size: 182.28 GiB used: 154.39 GiB (84.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7
Swap:
ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 33.83 GiB used: 190.5 MiB (0.5%) priority: -2
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5
USB:
Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 12 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1
chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
Device-1: 1-1:8 info: Microdia USB Keyboard type: keyboard driver: hid-generic,usbhid
interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 1.5 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 300mA chip-ID: 0c45:7603 class-ID: 0301
Device-2: 1-4:44 info: Logitech M90/M100 Optical Mouse type: mouse driver: hid-generic,usbhid
interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 1.5 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 046d:c05a class-ID: 0301
Device-3: 1-6:4 info: Realtek Integrated_Webcam_HD type: video driver: uvcvideo interfaces: 3
rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 500mA chip-ID: 0bda:5522 class-ID: fe01 serial:
Device-4: 1-10:5 info: Realtek Bluetooth Radio type: bluetooth driver: btusb interfaces: 2
rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 500mA chip-ID: 0bda:c829 class-ID: e001 serial:
Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s lanes: 1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 64.0 C mobo: 56.0 C
Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 4192
Repos:
Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2831
No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list
1: deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https: //download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu noble stable
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/github-cli.list
1: deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg] https: //cli.github.com/packages stable main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kobuk-team-intel-graphics-noble.list
1: deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/kobuk-team-intel-graphics-noble.gpg] https: //ppa.launchpadcontent.net/kobuk-team/intel-graphics/ubuntu noble main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/libreoffice-libreoffice-still-noble.list
1: deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/libreoffice-libreoffice-still-noble.gpg] https: //ppa.launchpadcontent.net/libreoffice/libreoffice-still/ubuntu noble main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
1: deb https: //mirrors.cicku.me/linuxmint/packages zena main upstream import backport
2: deb http: //archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu noble main restricted universe multiverse
3: deb http: //archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu noble-updates main restricted universe multiverse
4: deb http: //archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu noble-backports main restricted universe multiverse
5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ noble-security main restricted universe multiverse
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/oneAPI.list
1: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/oneapi-archive-keyring.gpg] https: //apt.repos.intel.com/oneapi all main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.sources
1: deb [arch=amd64] https: //dl.google.com/linux/chrome-stable/deb/ stable main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.sources
1: deb [arch=amd64] https: //packages.microsoft.com/repos/code stable main
Info:
Memory: total: 32 GiB note: est. available: 31.09 GiB used: 9.97 GiB (32.1%)
Processes: 362 Power: uptime: 2d 21h 33m states: freeze,mem suspend: s2idle wakeups: 12
hibernate: disabled Init: systemd v: 255 target: graphical (5) default: graphical
Compilers: gcc: 13.3.0 alt: 11/12 Client: Unknown python3.12 client inxi: 3.3.34
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(Reading database ... 690514 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../OpenWhispr-1.7.4-linux-amd64.deb ...
Unpacking open-whispr (1.7.4) over (1.7.4) ...
/var/lib/dpkg/info/open-whispr.postrm: line 12: HOME: unbound variable
dpkg: warning: old open-whispr package post-removal script subprocess returned error exit status 1
dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ...
/var/lib/dpkg/tmp.ci/postrm: line 12: HOME: unbound variable
dpkg: error processing archive myhome/Downloads/OpenWhispr-1.7.4-linux-amd64.deb (--install):
 new open-whispr package post-removal script subprocess returned error exit status 1
/var/lib/dpkg/tmp.ci/postrm: line 12: HOME: unbound variable
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
 new open-whispr package post-removal script subprocess returned error exit status 1
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.17-2) ...
Processing triggers for mailcap (3.70+nmu1ubuntu1.24.04.1) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.27-2build1) ...
Processing triggers for mate-menus (1.26.1+mint1) ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.36.0-1.1ubuntu3) ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 myhome/Downloads/OpenWhispr-1.7.4-linux-amd64.deb

[rrebollo]

also with 1.7.5 (same scenario gdebi-gtk)

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(Reading database ... 690514 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../OpenWhispr-1.7.5-linux-amd64.deb ...
Unpacking open-whispr (1.7.5) over (1.7.4) ...
/var/lib/dpkg/info/open-whispr.postrm: line 12: HOME: unbound variable
dpkg: warning: old open-whispr package post-removal script subprocess returned error exit status 1
dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ...
/var/lib/dpkg/tmp.ci/postrm: line 12: HOME: unbound variable
dpkg: error processing archive /home/roly/Downloads/OpenWhispr-1.7.5-linux-amd64.deb (--install):
 new open-whispr package post-removal script subprocess returned error exit status 1
/var/lib/dpkg/tmp.ci/postrm: line 12: HOME: unbound variable
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
 new open-whispr package post-removal script subprocess returned error exit status 1
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.17-2) ...
Processing triggers for mailcap (3.70+nmu1ubuntu1.24.04.1) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.27-2build1) ...
Processing triggers for mate-menus (1.26.1+mint1) ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.36.0-1.1ubuntu3) ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /home/roly/Downloads/OpenWhispr-1.7.5-linux-amd64.deb