Entry 60 error, software updater failed; can't find file /etc/apt/sources.list

[Gene Heskett]

On Sunday 05 August 2018 13:02:22 Colin Law wrote:

> On 5 August 2018 at 17:26, Gene Heskett <gheskett at shentel.net> wrote:
> > On Sunday 05 August 2018 08:29:19 Colin Law wrote:
> > > On 5 August 2018 at 12:14, Gene Heskett <gheskett at shentel.net> 
wrote:
> > > > On Sunday 05 August 2018 03:56:36 Colin Law wrote:
> > > > > On 4 August 2018 at 22:50, Gene Heskett <gheskett at shentel.net>
> >
> > wrote:
> > > > > > ...
> > > > > > If gedit was used on that file before, all bets are off and
> > > > > > it may contain most anything but a valid sources.list now.
> > > > > > I've had that happen too many times Colin, and nuked gedit
> > > > > > from all my systems going on about 2 years ago now.  Neither
> > > > > > nano, nor geany (needs X) has ever trashed a file. 60 lines
> > > > > > is in fact a possibility, but the usual install is less than
> > > > > > 20, and this user is not a "power" user, so 60 lines also
> > > > > > raised a red flag for me.
> > > > >
> > > > > I have never had any problems with gedit, though one must
> > > > > never use it with sudo of course, being a graphical app.  The
> > > > > default sources.list on 18.04 has 51 lines so where your 'less
> > > > > than 20' comes from I don't know.  The guy followed some duff
> > > > > instructions on how to install something I believe and that is
> > > > > how it got messed up.
> > > > >
> > > > > Colin
> > > >
> > > > Well, TBT, I am used to debian now, and the typical sources.list
> > > > is shorter.
> > > >
> > > > But I'll stand by my comments on gedit. We have, quite often
> > > > after we have made a very basic .hal file to configure a cnc
> > > > machine, but the fawncier stuffs we have to add by hand, and the
> > > > 3rd time it took a 700 LOC file and made 1700 lines of
> > > > nonsensical trash that would not parse in the interpretor was
> > > > the back breaker for me, it likes to pick up 30 lines of random
> > > > code that didn't start or end with a linefeed, and insert it
> > > > midline at random earlier locations in the code, random numbers
> > > > of times. Regenerating 700 LOC entirely from memory is painfull
> > > > enough and it appeared I had better find a new editor, which in
> > > > my case was geany. Which has so far behaved itself perfectly. If
> > > > gedit hasn't bitten you yet, feel blessed.
> > >
> > > I trust you submitted a bug report.
> >
> > Should have been a ?, yes, but it wasn't printable, I was plenty
> > upset at the time and gave it a piece of my mind. Never got a reply
> > or any other indication it was actually filed, and haven't checked.
> > Once I am done with a product, I'm done. But that doesn't mean I
> > won't attempt to advise other users of my experience.
> >
> > In the case of the last file it trashed, it took about a week to
> > rewrite it for satisfactory operation of a small metal lathe I had
> > converted to be run by linuxcnc.  A week I spent entirely too much
> > time on, occasionally referencing a previous but out of date
> > printout and discussing with myself, the authors family tree. I now
> > kill a tree everytime I make a mod to those files just in case.
>
> I can't help thinking that if this were a general problem with gedit
> then others would have noted it.
> You could put such files under git control and then commit them every
> time you make a significant change.  That is how I generally manage
> things. With a remote repo on a remote server there is automatically
> an offsite backup and an audit trail.
>
> Colin

I have never considered such a thing. If my nc_files directory was a 
manageable size, maybe, but several hundred 50 to 200000 LOC files would 
not be entirely practical, I will occasionally cross-copy from machine 
to machine then modify the copy to reflect the abilities of the the new 
home machine, without renaming it, so I don't see how practical that 
might be in the long view. All this is included in the nightly amanda 
backup of course, but recovery is rarely done on a per file basis, plus 
amanda records the src device and won't gracefully allow recovery to a 
different device. Maybe I should do an rsync to a local backup tree on 
the same spindle? All these machines have plenty of space to do that. 
Even those I have recently installed smaller SSD's into. Far less power 
and up to 5x faster than spinning rust drives.  Hindsight, always 20-5. 
Round tuit's are in short supply though, I'm going to have to make more 
if I ever find a decent, free to use pattern. So far, everything I've 
found is also copyrighted. Darn it.

-- 
Cheers, Gene Heskett
--
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene>