8.10 Updates damaging applications

[Bret Busby]

On Sat, 21 Feb 2009, Mario Vukelic wrote:

> 
> On Sun, 2009-02-22 at 00:55 +0900, Bret Busby wrote:
>> See below - taken from Synaptic -> history, for February 2009, on that
>> Ubuntu 8.10 system.
>
> I'll comment on that further down.
>
>> It might not be hundreds, but it sure felt like it,
>
> I can understand that, but please be aware that the more exact your
> information is, the better the help will be that you get. After all, you
> are asking for *free* help here (you can purchase a support contract
> with Canonical if that is more your cup of beer). Which means that I am
> currently donating my own free time to trying to help you. I don't think
> that it is really my responsibility to go and clarify your misleading
> information myself.
>

Is it misleading? Did you do a count of the updates that were listed? 
How many were there exactly, if not hundreds?

I note that, in your condemnation, you conspicuously omiited any 
comments such as

"You said "hundreds" - there were in fact only 199 updates",

or something similar.

>> In the update utility, I get only two types of updates listed;
>> "Important Security Updates", and, "Recommended updates.
>> I do not knowing have anything to do with "proposed updates".
>
> Hm, my lack of kubuntu knowledge is inconvenient here, it seems weird
> not to have -proposed. But indeed it seems that I was wrong, read on
> further down.
>

I am not using kubuntu - I am using Ubuntu, with the GNOME interface. I 
just happen to use KDE applications running on the system, such as 
(until recently) KFTPGrabber.

I note that my installation of KFTPGRabber (version kftpgrabber 
(0.8.0~beta2-1)  - from http://packages.debian.org/etch/kftpgrabber - 
the "About KFTPGRabber" dialogue box does not allow copying of text) on 
Debian 4.0, continues to work without any problems discovered by me.

>> With for what I use that particular computer, especially the Ubuntu 8.10
>> instalation, I would not turn it into the equivalent of Debian
>> experimental. That computer, and, what I have installed on the Ubuntu
>> 8.10 system, is simply to important to knowingly jeopardise with risky
>> software.
>
> In this case I, personally, would not run 8.10 at all, but would run
> 8.04 if possible. 8.04 is an LTS (Long-Term Support) release and is
> certainly much better tested and more stable.
> I would certainly not run a still very new and pretty experimental KDE
> version (4.1).
>

That is what my wife has now suggested - binning 8.10, and using 8.04, 
that she has ben using.

I had installed 8.10, as the latest Ubuntu "stable" version. Apparently, 
releasing a Ubuntu version, does not man that it is regarded as stable - 
it is apparently more a "testing" version, and unstable.

So, I have to transfer my home directory, and replace the 
unstable/testing Ubuntu 8.10, with the stab;e Ubuntu 8.04

> Useless hyperbole ("Debian experimental", "hundreds") will not entice
> people to pitch in, though. It was also the reason for my not
> exceptionally friendly first reply.
>
> Unless this has changed in recent years, experimental is not even a full
> repo that you can run as such. And there is certainly a lot more
> breakage in experimental than in Ubuntu 8.10.
>
> So far you have listed exactly one problem, KFTPGrabber hanging and
> crashing, and that you "don't know how much damage the updates have done
> to other applications". Which means that again you gave incomplete
> information while asking for free help, instead of doing your part. You
> know, the number of other new issues might just be zero.
>
> You did not even give any info about KFTPGrapper's behavior: when does
> it crash, is it reproducible, etc.
>

I had made that clear; what action is taked that consistently leads to 
the crash (basically trying to do FTP with the application, as stated 
in my previously, relatively explicitly, stated problem description).

> I find two bug reports about crashes of this app. Any of these?
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kftpgrabber/+bug/321716
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kftpgrabber/+bug/328002
>

No - see my problem description. The second one you cited above, states

"kftpgrabber is crashing, especially when there is a lot of actions to 
do..."

As my problem descriptions specified, just trying to upload or 
download files (I only tried with a single file at a time, that caused the 
crashes), caused the crashes, not multiple concurrent attempted actions.


--
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
  you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
   Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
   "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
   A Trilogy In Four Parts",
   written by Douglas Adams,
   published by Pan Books, 1992

....................................................