microsoft / microsoft/winget-cli

Nonsensical version tracking and listing

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C++
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Description

Brief description of your issue

On the below screenshot you can see Winget suggesting 4 updates for packages that are all on the latest version:
Screenshot 2023-10-06 123623

Firefox Developer edition:

The version actually installed is 119.0 Beta 5, the latest available for that release channel, but Winget detects a non-beta release of 119.0 (which will never exist since developer edition only gets beta channel builds) and suggests me "upgrade" to the previous beta.

This is problematic for 2 reasons:

  1. Winget should be aware of which packages list the beta build on their version info or not, and avoid recommending beta build updates to those who do not.
  2. According to semantic versioning 119.0 is a more updated release than 119.0b4, so even if I was theoretically running 119.0 release, it would be newer than beta 4 and therefore Winget is suggesting me a downgrade.
Microsoft Windows Desktop Runtime - 3.1.32

Winget is suggesting me to replace the 3.x desktop runtime with a completely incompatible version of the .NET desktop runtime (which for the record I have installed as well).

This is a serious issue as it would cause an update loop, as the 3.1.32 runtime is not overwritten by the 6.0.22 one and therefore will still show an update available after the install of the "updated" package.

Epic Games Launcher

This program is on the latest version according to the launcher's internal updater (15.15.0-2846563), neither the version Winget claims the program currently is or the one Winget claims is the latest can be found anywhere in the program, including the executable's version details.

Ideally Winget would not touch programs like these that include their own installers, but unfortunately the closest we have to a package ignore list is pinning, which breaks the program's internal updaters.

Python 3.12.0

Perhaps the most puzzling of them all, Winget detects my Python 3.12 install as an unknown version Python 3.11 install and is trying to get me to update to the version it currently is at. This is an issue for 2 reasons:

  1. Why is it detecting Python 3.12.0 as a version of Python 3.11 when they are different packages on Winget?
  2. If it thinks it's Python 3.11.x why is trying to upgrade to Python 3.12, a non-directly compatible release?

All of these are recurring issues that manifest themselves frequently and cause me to have to avoid the convenient winget upgrade --all command.

Steps to reproduce

Install the aforementioned packages and run winget upgrade

Expected behavior

Only packages with newer versions available would show updates.

Actual behavior

Inexistent updates show as available.

Environment
Windows Package Manager v1.6.2771
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Windows: Windows.Desktop v10.0.22631.2361
System Architecture: X64
Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.21.2771.0

Winget Directories
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Logs                               %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\Diag…
User Settings                      %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\sett…
Portable Links Directory (User)    %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Links
Portable Links Directory (Machine) C:\Program Files\WinGet\Links
Portable Package Root (User)       %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Packages
Portable Package Root              C:\Program Files\WinGet\Packages
Portable Package Root (x86)        C:\Program Files (x86)\WinGet\Packages
Installer Downloads                %USERPROFILE%\Downloads

Links
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Privacy Statement   https://aka.ms/winget-privacy
License Agreement   https://aka.ms/winget-license
Third Party Notices https://aka.ms/winget-3rdPartyNotice
Homepage            https://aka.ms/winget
Windows Store Terms https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/storedocs/terms-of-sale

Admin Setting                             State
--------------------------------------------------
LocalManifestFiles                        Disabled
BypassCertificatePinningForMicrosoftStore Disabled
InstallerHashOverride                     Disabled
LocalArchiveMalwareScanOverride           Disabled

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

No source files, tests, or entry points are identified in the issue. Reproduce the reports by installing the listed packages and running winget upgrade, then trace the version detection, comparison, and package identity logic behind each result. Done means winget upgrade lists only packages with genuinely newer compatible versions.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
cli
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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