Problems with Updates

[Kennneth P. Turvey]

On Tue, 28 Oct 2008 07:31:26 +0100, Mario Vukelic wrote:

> On Tue, 2008-10-28 at 03:04 +0000, Kennneth P. Turvey wrote:
>> In the last couple of months, automatic updates from Ubuntu have broken
>> sound and XV extensions for X11 on my system.
> 
> Which Ubuntu version, which updates exactly?

Hardy.  Not sure exactly which update.  I wish I knew and could roll it 
back.  

> 
>>  I think that in the future
>> once I have my system working correctly, I'm just going to neglect the
>> updates, all of them, including security updates.
> 
> This is a supremely bad idea.

I'm not sure it is on a laptop.  Losing productivity is more important to 
avoid than the potential security threat in this case. 

> The biggest risk is that your computer is taken over and made part of a
> bot net that is used to attack the Pentagon, and that all your personal
> data is stolen and sold.
> 
> Well, you asked for the BIGGEST risk :)

Haha.. OK.. biggest reasonable risk _on a laptop that isn't permanently 
connected to the network and is sitting behind a firewall_. 

> 
>> Is there a way to mitigate this problem without my system breaking on a
>> regular basis?
>> 
>> Why aren't these updates more solid than this?  There is no reason that
>> whole subsystems should be trashed by an automatic update.  Wait until
>> they are stable!
> 
> Hard to say, never happened to me in many years of Ubuntu usage. It
> would help if you could point at the updates that broken things.

I wish I could.  I'm not sure when sound quit working.  I posted to this 
forum when I discovered that the XV extensions to X weren't working.  
That post is dated October 13, 7:21.  It probably was an update applied 
within two weeks prior to that date.  



-- 
Kenneth P. Turvey <kt-usenet at squeakydolphin.com>

  IDIOT, n - A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in
  human affairs has always been dominant and controlling.
        -- Ambrose Bierce