1. Newbie evaluation. 2. Gutsy>Hardy: request for advice.

[Bas Roufs]

Dear Xurxo, Nils, Steven, Sylvaine, Perry, Michael, Geoffrey, Bruce, 
Bill, Dear Everybody Else

Thanks for the dedicated input of everybody so far. I like the vividness 
of the exchange at this list.

> I created a partition of 10GB for / and left the rest of the hard disk to /home. Whenever I want to reinstall from scratch I just wipe out the "/" disk but the /home disk is safe so I dont have to safe email, videos, pictures, bookmarks or configuration files.
>   
Is - in that case- the 10 GB / partition the system partition?  However 
it may be, such a way of partitioning sounds sensible.

>  
> I upgrade edgy to feisty to gutsy to hardy without much hassle so upgrading is fine. Since I'm having problem with suspend I decided to wait a few weeks this time. In previus versions I upgraded when the RC version was out.
>   

Some other recent contributions to this thread point in the same 
direction: sensible arguments for an upgrade via Adept Manager - however 
after making back ups and software configuration script files.. By 
example you, Nils, wrote:
> As you will backup your data anyway to prepare a clean install, I would suggest you also try an upgrade first and check if you have trouble. If you have trouble, a clean install is still possible, but probably it isn't necessary.
This sounds perfectly reasonable. On the other hand: a nasty problem 
with respect to the partitioning needs to be solved first, before doing 
so. See below.

>> * what about the problem with Firefox 3, which is in Hardy, but which is still unable to work with vitally important add-ons?
>>     
> try this:
> cd /etc/usr/bin
> sudo rm firefox (removes the firefox link)
> sudo ln -s firefox-2 firefox (create a link from firefox 2 to firefox)
> then you have to go to your firefox2 folder:
> .mozilla/firefox/ and then a folder with numbers and letters.

Do I need to first make a copy of the firefox 2 folder before starting 
the upgrade and carrying out the instructions above?
Is there a possibility to reinstall Firefox 2 from the repository after 
upgrading to Hardy?  If not, how to install it?

> You have to remove the file extensions.rdf and you can use firefox2 and your
> extensions again.
>   

Can I maintain somehow the Firefox configuration from Gutsy or do I need 
to make a 'fresh' install of firefox 2 after upgrading and carrying out 
your instructions?

> Upgrading is usually safe. If you keep /home on a different partition the worst escenario would be to format "/" volume and install again.

At my desktop, home is still in the same partition as "/". Is there some 
way to if I would upgrade in that way, would it be possible somehow to 
safely rearrange the partitioning in a way similar to the suggestion 
above? Or is it better to do a clean install in case I need to rearrange 
the partitioning?


>  I keep an excel file with the software I have installed 

Is that a file similar to the one I send in the attachment: a list of 
software packages installed at this PC?


> and a copy of my sources.list file just in case.
>   
"sources.list file": please, explain what it is.


> I'm not sure if the suspend/resume issue affects the computer when running kde though but since I use gnome too it's a reason strong enough to wait.
>   

Do you think, such bugs can be eliminated by means of the regular updates?


With respect to your input, Billie:

> .. I don't know what "vitally important add-ons" he might need but I have been pleasantly surprised with Firefox3b.

I use add-ons like Foxmarks, to back-up and synchronise my bookmarks. 
This I need for my work. I have dozens of bookmarks.
On both the Kubuntu and Ubuntu forums I have seen other messages 
reporting difficulties with bookmark backup add-ons. Beside from this, I 
use add-ons for several other purposes: FTP transfer, language spelling 
control in different languages, etc.

I have taken a look on the Mozilla website for information on Firefox 3b:

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/3.0b5/releasenotes/

There they write: "Firefox 3 Beta 5 is a developer preview release of 
Mozilla's next generation Firefox browser and is being made available 
for testing purposes only....Users of the latest released version of 
Firefox should not expect their add-ons to work properly with this 
beta". Bearing into mind this warning, I do not understand why the 
developers of Ubuntu and Kubuntu Hardy already took this beta version as 
the default Firefox browser.  In my opinion, an 'official', 'stable' 
Kubuntu and Ubuntu release should include the latest STABLE version of 
such a browser: a present Firefox 2.0.0.14. As a relative newbie with 
only half a year of Linux experience, I am simply not yet ready for 
experiments with unfinished software.

Respectfully Yours,

Bas Roufs.


-- 
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Bas G. Roufs M.A.
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NL-3514 VT  Utrecht
E.:  BasRoufs at gmail.com
M.: +31.6.446.835.10.
T.: +31.30.785.20.40.
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