If one pins a package and does a 'apt-get dist-upgrade' then the
output looks like:
# apt-get dist-upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages have been kept back:
cassandra
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
The check for any changes made should only be on the 'upgraded' and
'newly installed' values and not include the 'to remove' and 'not
upgraded' values.
3a8c9f04da