Restore Dapper after Edgy

[NoOp]

John L Fjellstad wrote:
> NoOp <glgxg at mfire.com> writes:
> 
>> Questions:
>> 1. How to restore a Dapper system back to its basic files without
>> destroying any /home user data and having to reinstall and repartition
>> the disk? This seems to me to be a basic requirement of this system.
> 
> aptitude install ubuntu-desktop/dapper

I sincerely hope that is not the answer.

However, if it is perhaps you mean sudo aptitude install
ubuntu-desktop/dapper?

sudo aptitude install ubuntu-desktop/dapper
Password:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Building tag database... Done
The following NEW packages will be automatically installed:
  openoffice.org-common openoffice.org-core
The following packages will be automatically REMOVED:
  openoffice.org-debian-menus
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  openoffice.org openoffice.org-common openoffice.org-core
  openoffice.org-evolution openoffice.org-gnome openoffice.org-gtk
  openoffice.org-java-common ubuntu-desktop
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  openoffice.org-debian-menus
0 packages upgraded, 8 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 13.8kB/58.9MB of archives. After unpacking 145MB will be used.

So my question then would be; why is openoffice an integral part to the
ubuntu desktop?  For instance, if you install the ubuntu desktop package
in Synaptics it will show that it is installing the above openoffice.org
files. Again, this seems to be the IE to Microsoft situation.

> 
>> 2. How to upgrade to the next Ubuntu version without having to depend on
>> ubuntu-desktop which installs seriously outdated files?
> 
> They recommend that you install ubuntu-desktop since it pulls everything
> in for that release.  You're not going to get a newer version than what
> ubuntu-desktop installation will pull in anyways.

See above & why is that? What if I wish to run a minimal system and do
not wish to have OOo on the system at all in order to save disk space?

> 
>> 3. Why is Dapper 6.06x 2 revisions behind OpenOffice when OOo is an
>> integrated part of the OS desktop? Note: after cleaning out all of the
>> Ubuntu dated files (2.0.2) OOo 2.0.4 installs and runs just fine.
> 
> Dapper is stable condition.  If Ubuntu has similar policy as Debian, the
> only thing going into Dapper will be security updates.  If you really
> want to install newer version, check if it is in backports.

Perhaps I don't understand backports;

http://backports.ubuntuforums.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

<quote>
 What are 'Backports'?

Backporting is the process of compiling and providing new packages for a
distribution that no longer gets any updates except for security
purposes - for example backports are often made to bring the latest,
greatest version of a crucial piece of software to a version of an OS
that it isn't officially available for. Specifically, when backporting,
the package is taken from the current development version of the OS.

In Ubuntu's case this means that packages that are in the Dapper Drake
repositories(the unreleased successor to Breezy Badger) can be compiled
and made to run on Breezy.

As a result, in order for a package to be considered for backporting, it
must first be available in the Dapper repositories. Failure to check
this is probably the main reason for the refusal of backport requests.
</quote>

> 
> Think about it this way.  In your case, upgrading OOo 2.0.2 to 2.0.4
> broke something.  The whole idea of a release and staying is for the
> stability of the system.  How is keeping the system stable if the
> components get upgraded with new features?  If I wanted new features, I
> should have upgraded to the next version or enabled the backports
> repositories. 
> 

In this case it is not the components of the actual application that
broke the system, it was the upgrading via the repository that broke the
system (and my foolishness for attempting it). I have been running OOo
2.0.3 & 4 on Dapper for some time with no problems via the OOo site
code. It was only when I installed via the Edgy repository that the
system broke. That is because the repository apparently has modified the
OOo code to the extent that that version will only work in U/Edgy.

  If you look at the 2.0.4 OOo version on Edgy you'll see that it is a
Ubuntu branded version. I see nothing wrong with this with the exception
being that the _application_ also modifies critical system files that
the compiled OOo does _not_ do.

So it's back to the basic question: is there a script and/or method that
will allow one to restore a Dapper (or name your flavour) back to it's
basic system files without destroying user data in the /home directory?
It seems to me that there must be as the kernal can be updated without
doing this. It's not even necessary to preserve extra user settings
and/or application settings (those can easily be rebuilt), just preserve
/home directory data. Note: yes I've tried the /home directory on a
separate partition, no it didn't help much -- best bet that I've found
so far is to mirror the data on an external Windows disk & bring it back
in once I've rebuilt the Ubuntu drives.

Note: I very much support and appreciate Ubuntu and _all_ of the effort
from the developers/contributors. I've converted all but 4 of my
desktops to Ubuntu and continue to promote Ubuntu to my peers.