PS Re: VVDQ : Alpine on Ubuntu??

[Beartooth Testbedder]

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:33:40 +1100, Peter Garrett wrote:

> Start here:
> 
> https://help.ubuntu.com/6.06/
> 
> Then read:
> 
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/
> 
> There's a search box in the top right corner... type the word "upgrade"
> and see what you get ( I get 15 hits)

I got 15 by searching Titles rather that Text; so I assumed that was what
you meant.

> Read this as well:
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SynapticHowto
> 
> If you want to learn more, I suggest also looking at
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AptitudeSurvivalGuide
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AptGetHowto
> 
> I also suggest that you not try to run GUI tools from a root prompt. As
> shown in your post by:
> 
> root at SblzUb:# update-manager -c
> Traceback (most recent call last):
>   File "/usr/bin/update-manager", line 28, in ?
>     import gtk
>   File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/gtk-2.0/gtk/__init__.py", line
> 45, in ? from _gtk import *
> RuntimeError: could not open display
> 
> The display is owned by your user, so you will be refused. You will also
> run the risk of making your ~/.Xauthority and/or ~/.ICEauthority files
> owned by root, which will lock you out completely on next login....
> 
> This is what "gksudo" is for - for instance "gksudo synaptic" or "gksudo
> "update-manager -c" Mind you, both of these have perfectly adequate GUI or
> menu entries anyway, which will prompt for your password.

IOW, no matter what I do (gurux on my favorite LUG to the contrary
notwithstanding), the practice of typing 'sudo' and a password every
whipstitch is built in so deep there's no way to dodge it. Are you saying
that?

I have to reply that that one fact, if it is one, is enough to eliminate
the whole distro from my consideration, or that of pretty much anybody
else with trifocal fingers and arthritic eyeballs. 

I *will* *not* do it, nor do I think my wife will when she has to manage
without me. We've seen too much of carpal tunnel, for one thing.

I can manage, more or less tolerably (not happily!) to get by without some
of my favorite apps (such as Galeon); but life is far too short, no matter
how much or little I have left, for all this eternal sudoing. I realize it
has its place for many users, maybe a large majority of them, and I wish
them well; I'm just not one of them.

> If you are running the update manager to try to upgrade to a later version
> of Ubuntu, you will *only be offered the next version* - you can't go from
> 6.06 to 7.*

Two questions : How do I check which I'm running now? That upgrader
crashed, and I want to be sure whether it did anything. uname -a gives me
a kernel name, but not an Ubuntu name. And I know better than to do rpm
-q, even if I thought it would work against a whole OS.

Also, this begins to sound, orthodoxy notwithstanding, like it would be a
lot less trouble to burn a CD of the latest version, and upgrade from
that; otherwise, I have hours spent 6.06 > 6.10 > 7.04 > 7.10 > whatever,
if another comes out any time soon.

> 
> Currently you can only go from 6.06 ( Dapper ) to 6.10 ( Edgy) see:
> 
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EdgyUpgrades
> 
> Your problems stem from not having done the reading required to understand
> your system. As has been pointed out, a good starting point is the "Help"
> function which appears on your panel. Remarkably few people seem to read
> this document, or use its search feature...

There's a reason for that. Two reasons, in fact. First, all the above
excellent sites are new to me, and I had not found them; many thanks!

Second, as has long and oft been seen, those who get to the forefront of
any new subject -- mathematics, philology, you name it -- learn so much
along the way that it becomes hard to imagine or remember how much current
beginners *don't* know. This is part of the human condition -- one of the
more remediable parts, fortunately -- but it always reminds me of the
classic anecdote about the definition of "obvious" ...

I thank you profusely for all the clueful URLs.

-- 
Beartooth Staffwright, Neo-Redneck, Double Retiree,
Not Quite Clueless Linux Power User : F8, C5.1, U6.06;
I have precious (very precious) little idea where up is.