Faulty Software Updater on 16.04

[Bret Busby]

On 08/10/2017, Ralf Mardorf <silver.bullet at zoho.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 07 Oct 2017 18:21:20 -0400, Paul Smith wrote:
>>On Sat, 2017-10-07 at 22:21 +0100, Colin Law wrote:
>>> On 7 October 2017 at 22:07, Bret Busby <bret.busby at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> >
>>> > Because firefox, in its malicious design, will not let the Home
>>> > Page be left  blank,  I entered the word "blank" for the Home
>>> > Page, and it goes to blank.com, which redirects to malicious web
>>> > sites.
>>>
>>> The correct way of getting a blank page is to use about:blank
>>
>>Not only is this the correct way, it's ALWAYS been the correct way
>>since Netscape Navigator, 20 years ago.  Also, it's the correct way to
>>get a blank page in every single browser, not just Mozilla, including
>>proprietary browsers from Microsoft and Apple.
>
> It still would be wrong, even if it should be possible, to enforce a
> blank page without removing the malicious software. We don't know what
> Bret actually has done, he only mentioned "I have done that (not the
> upgrade)". "done that" seemingly was following
> http://www.myantispyware.com/2017/06/30/how-to-remove-search-rspark-com-chrome-firefox-ie-edge/
> and hopefully it was
> http://www.myantispyware.com/2017/06/30/how-to-remove-search-rspark-com-chrome-firefox-ie-edge/#mfirefox
>


That is, I think, what I did - whatever I did was using the triple
line sequence ( a symbol in the top right corner of the screen, with
three horizontal lines in a stack, like a stack of pallets, which
symbol, I do not know how to enter into a text message), which
involved, if I remember correctly, removing all add-ons and plugins,
and returned firefox to the default installation. It is a brute force
kind of thing, and I lost all of my sessions history, for the last
however many years, about which, I am not very happy.

But, the rspark faecal matter appears to be gone.

And, during the day of 10 October, here (UTC+0800), the Software
Updater changed back, on this system (the one that had firefox 53,
without the rspark faecal matter), to the functionality that allowed
deselection of packages intended to be updated.

That allowed me to remember a package that I mandatorily disallow,
and, that I deselect, whenever I had performed a system upgrade;
"Automatically install system upgrades" or something like that. I
think there was also a second package, that I had avoided upgrading or
installing, but, I do not remember any details of the second package.

Anyway, apart from the automatically install all upgrades package, I
did a full system upgrade, and now have firefox 56 installed on this
system.

On the other system, which also, eventually, got the same, changed
Software Updater interface (changed back to how it was before), having
shut down all of the applications, to perform a system upgrade on that
system, when I start the upgrade procedure, I now get an error ( - not
a warning; a "proceed no further", error kind of thing), that states
"Requires installation of untrusted packages
This requires installing packages from unauthenticated sources."

And, in that, so as to make life difficult, it does not tell me what
are the untrusted packages, or, what are the "unauthenticated
sources".

I note that the list of packages involved in the system upgrade,
includes a number of "Anti-virus software for UNIX package(s)", which
surprised me.

But, without the "untrusted packages" being listed, they could be
firmware packages from nVidia, the graphics thing manufacturer, or,
some other manufacturer's firmware, or, they could be suspect
packages.

But, the Software Updater very carefully conceals that information.

So, once again, as system upgrade is prevented by the system software
application; Software Updater.

-- 
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

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