[ubuntu-uk] comprehensively messed up by updates

[Alan Pope]

2009/3/9 Sean Miller <sean at seanmiller.net>:
> Ah, hadn't spotted that... true...

> still am of the opinion, though,
> that if he's still at the stage where he can re-install (or "restore"
> or whatever) without losing things he'd do better with a more
> up-to-date, and "vanilla", install.
>

Sure, and I can understand that advice, completely.

> Half this problem seems, to me at least, to be to do with Rowan having
> lost confidence in the whole setup of his machine.
>

I think Rowan is focussing on the non-free non-standard elements on
his machine. Fact is the non-free non-standard bits are what is making
it work. Remove those and it breaks. Update everything else, and not
that bit and it breaks. That's it in a nutshell.

> Installing 8.10 and finding his machine works like magic may restore
> some of that.
>

It may well do. It could be worth Rowans time to get the ISO for
vanilla 8.10 and install it (given he's reinstalled from the recovery
cd) to see if everything "just works" as you assert it should (and as
indeed it _should_). However, the fact still remains that he'll likely
lose any support from LC.

Cheers,
Al.