Bullet lists in package descriptions are not displayed correctly for PPA packages

This is not limited to PPAs. Ubuntu Software Center shows bullets as the letter 'o'. This affects many apps.

Example (ogmrip):
ogmrip is an application and a set of libraries for ripping and encoding DVD into AVI, OGM MP4 or Matroska files using a wide variety of codecs. It relies on mplayer, mencoder, ogmtools, mkvtoolnix, oggenc, lame and faac to perform its tasks. o transcodes from DVD or files o outputs ogm, avi, mp4 or matroska files o calculates video bitrate for a given filesize o calculates cropping parameters and scaling factors o supports multiple audio and subtitles streams encoding o lots of codecs (vorbis, mp3, pcm, ac3, dts, aac, xvid, lavc, x264, theora) o uses maximum quality codec switches o rips contiguous chapters

Verified problem still exists in latest dev release (see screenshot).

software-center (2.1.20) maverick; urgency=low

  [ Michael Vogt ]
  * softwarecenter/backend/login_sso.py:
    - improve help text now that ubuntu-sso-client is more flexible
      about it (thanks to Naty Bidart) LP: #624097
  * debian/control:
    - tighten dependency of ubuntu-sso-client (for the helptext)
  * softwarecenter/db/update.py, softwarecenter/db/application.py:
    - add X-AppInstall-Description support and extract it from
      software-center-agent to support long descriptions from
      the agent (LP: #625254)
  * softwarecenter/view/pendingview.py:
    - add pulse for pending purchases (LP: #637377)
  * softwarecenter/utils.py:
    - improve logging of the imagedownloader
    - fix where-is-it for kde4 apps (LP: #635684)
  * softwarecenter/distro/Ubuntu.py:
    - fix icon downloading from extras.ubuntu.com and support possible
      country mirrors
  * softwarecenter/view/appdetailsview_gtk.py:
    - show pulse once the install starts (LP: #637377)
    - support "where is it" for non app-install-data if the desktop
      file has the same name as the package name (LP: #637452)
    - fix icon display in "where is it" if Icon=/path/to/file
  * softwarecenter/apt/aptcache.py:
    - add installed_count to the cache
  * softwarecenter/view/appdetailsview_gtk.py:
    - support bullets with " o item" in the description
      (LP: #584147)
  * send version of the package to screenshots.ubuntu.com so that it
    can return the most appropriate image. that is supported by debshoots
    now thanks to Christoph Haas
  * softwarecenter/backend/aptd.py:
    - fix a flickering in the viewswitcher spinenr when purchasing
      a application
    - hide the "buy" button when installing a purchase, fix uneven
      pulsing
  * merged lp:~mmcg069/software-center/small-ui-fix:
    - fix small horizonal line positioning bug.

  [ Gary Lasker ]
  * softwarecenter/view/softwarepane.py:
    - show a more reasonable number for hidden technical items
      in the installed view of "Provided by Ubuntu"
  * softwarecenter/enums.py,
    softwarecenter/utils.py,
    softwarecenter/view/appdetailsview_gtk.py,
    softwarecenter/view/softwarepane.py,
    softwarecenter/view/widgets/imagedialog.py:
    - create an alternative spinner widget that uses an animated gif
      for when gtk.Spinner is not available (LP: #637422)
  * softwarecenter/view/appview.py:
    - fix crash in _on_transaction_finished (LP: #631132)
    - enable show/hide technical items for "Installed Software"
  * softwarecenter/app.py:
    - fix crash in on_menu_edit_activate (LP: #624913)

  [ Kiwinote ]
  * softwarecenter/view/appdetailsview_gtk.py:
    - add basic a11y support for addon items
    - add a11y support for 'where is it'
  * softwarecenter/view/appview.py:
    - set buttons which aren't rendered insensitive (LP: #630521)
    - use a greyed out 'question mark' icon for pkg not found (LP: #635081)
    - for exact pkg not found matches, we don't always have a appname, whoops
  * softwarecenter/view/cat_view.py:
    - set verbose a11y name for the 'all' button for carousels, such that we
      include the secti...

I am still seeing this bug in the Ubuntu 11.04 (natty) software center. DEB file shows the list correctly. Universe repository shows the list correctly. But the exact same package in a PPA does not show the list of asterisks correctly. Should I submit a new bug?

I'm reopening the bug.

The behavior is still present in software-center 3.0.7 (the package version in synaptic). For example, look at the description of the stellarium package in "ppa:stellarium/stellarium".

The bug is described in the changelog in comment #5 above as "support bullets with " o item" in the description". *This is wrong.* Note that in my original report, Stellarium uses asterisks. In the current version, it uses dashes. Both are not rendered correctly.

There may be a problem with the line ending characters - list items are not recognized as separate lines, which means that newlines are stripped somewhere.

The list is rendered OK if there is no " ." line before the first line. Example:

 Features of the package:
  * feature 1
  * feature 2

The dot line before the first bulleted line in the original bug report was a result of an unsuccessful attempt to work around the bug. If you are talking about this, there's no such dot line in the description of the package that currently shows the bug. See ppa:stellarium/stellarium-releases

Or do you mean the other dot line in front of "Some features:" in my file?

No, I mean the line after "Some features".
Without this line:
* The package description is correct when you view it from "Installed" section or when you open the .deb file with USC.
* The description is displayed like in the first screenshot when you view the package from "Avaliable" section.
This is a strange behaviour, I think.
// I use the package "testy" from my ppa:mitya57 as the test case.

One more note:
* The description in "Installed" section is displayed correctly only if the package was installed from .deb file, not from the repository/ppa.

In USC 4.1.23.3, the bulleted lists display fine for both stellarium and ogmrip. I can't see how the description for stellarium from <https://launchpad.net/~stellarium/+archive/stellarium-testing> is displayed, because it contains no Oneiric builds, and even if it did, they're older than the version in the Ubuntu archive.

Does anyone have an example of a bulleted list that is displaying incorrectly in USC in Ubuntu 11.10 beta?

I'll try to upload a test package of the development version later today or tomorrow.

[Expired for software-center (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

The bug is not in in Software Center, the Package Description provided by Launchpad are wrong.

The Description in the package itself is correct (bullets are indented by an extra space):
    wget -O- http://ppa.launchpad.net/stellarium/stellarium-testing/ubuntu/pool/main/s/stellarium/stellarium_0.10.6~bzr4813-0ubuntu1ppa1~maverick1_amd64.deb >/tmp/foo.deb; dpkg -I /tmp/foo.deb

The Description from Launchpad is wrong (bullets are indented by an extra space):
    wget -O- http://ppa.launchpad.net/stellarium/stellarium-testing/ubuntu/dists/maverick/main/binary-i386/Packages

A more recent example:
OK:
    wget -O /tmp/foo.deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gedit-bc-dev-plugins/releases/ubuntu/pool/main/g/gedit-projects/gedit-projects_1.0_all.deb; dpkg -I /tmp/foo.deb
Wrong:
    wget -O- http://ppa.launchpad.net/gedit-bc-dev-plugins/releases/ubuntu/dists/oneiric/main/binary-amd64/Packages

Some software on Launchpad incorrectly strips spaces before bullet list. That confuses software that formats descriptions like Software Center and Aptitude. Synaptic is not affected because it does not format the description but display it as plain text.

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

@barcc: package descriptions are provided by packages, not by Launchpad :)

Oh, sorry, you are right... It's Launchpad that generates Packages file (but it probably uses some other tools for doing that).

Not only PPA's are affected but also the partner archive. Look at skype in http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/partner/binary-amd64/Packages.bz2