Newbie questions

[Ronald McCollam]

On Fri, 2011-03-11 at 07:06 -0800, Joseph Areeda wrote:
> Greetings,

Howdy! :)

> I'm just getting used to all the changes in the UI in Natty.  I'm using
> zsync to update the daily iso.  Is it necessary [or helpful] to wipe and
> reinstall the iso every day?  I guess since I'm having install issues, I
> should, but it's a bit of a process.

Do you mean wipe the [virtual] machine that you tested the install on?
If so, not really -- the install process should do that for you as long
as you select 'erase and use the entire disk' during install.

If you mean should you delete the ISO file before running zsync,
definitely not.  zsync will use the file you have and download only the
parts that have changed, so you'll download much much less data (and it
will go faster).  If you delete the ISO first, zsync will have to grab
the entire thing.

zsync performs tests to be sure you have the correct bits, but you can
always check yourself as well.  Use 'md5sum' and the published md5sums
on cdimage.ubuntu.com in the same directory as the ISO.

> Once I install an iso, should I do apt-get upgrade or work with the
> packages on the CD?

That depends a bit on what you're testing.  If you're testing a
particular image (ISO testing) you want to stick with what was installed
from the CD.  If you're doing general testing, you can do either -- but
if you find a bug you'll want to upgrade anyway to make sure it hasn't
been fixed since the image was created.

> What about reporting problems that show up in the logs but not in the
> UI?  Are those worth emails to this list?  For example, I'm having
> trouble with the Update Center so I have to run it from the command line
> with LD_PRELOAD and in the window I see "software-center.apt.aptcache -
> WARNING - broken packages encountered while getting deps for daily-journal"

The deps issue is *probably* just an indication that some packages
haven't been fully updated in the repository.  I wouldn't worry about it
unless it persists.

Why are you having to run Update Manager with LD_PRELOAD?  That one does
sound like a bug, but it may be a known one (I haven't checked).

> As the new guy, I'm a little shy about filing bug reports until I can
> figure out if it's me or Natty.  Is it better to ask or file bugs that
> turn out to be my inexperience?

When in doubt, file the bug. :)  It's better to catch things as early as
possible, and if it turns out to not be a bug it's generally pretty
quick to tell and close it out.  Just be sure to search in launchpad
before filing a bug to make sure it's not already there. :)

> I have a lot more questions like these but let's see if this email makes
> it to the list.

Got it here!  Thanks for helping!

 - rm