Ubuntu Update Gone Bad?

Ubuntu, like most other distros, prompts you to install system updates. You can control the schedule using the Update Manager and set it for daily, every two days, per week or every two weeks. I prefer the weekly updates. There are other options as well but I will not be highlighting them at this time. Typically the defaults on most options will work for most users but they are fairly straightforward and do not need much explanation. Most of the time updates will install just fine. However once in a while the internet or your computer just doesn't cooperate. The update then gets hung and maybe the system will not even boot fully. It is times like this that a little knowledge of the command line will be very beneficial. If possible boot to the prompt and issue these commands:

sudo apt-get update 
(password)
apt-get upgrade -u

This will perform the rest of the update just as you were using the gui's Update Manager. It will be important to note that wireless users may or may not be connected, so it might be wise to connect via a cable if possible. Running the unfinished upgrade this way just may prevent a needless re-install of the OS. But you have /Home on a separate partition anyway, right?

Installing Packages In Debian With Synaptic

I have gotten very comfortable installing packages from the command line using apt-get, aptitude and dpkg. In fact I installed Synaptic using aptitude on the command line. So if I can do this why use Synaptic? The problem I have is what to install. Aptitude will install packages with ease this is true. Synaptic will also install packages with ease and I can find the packages I want by either searching or browsing the categories. This is extremely helpful since I really have no idea what packages are available or what they are named. And I also get the benefit of a brief description.

Click to enlarge

If you know what you are installing and are comfortable on the command line then by all means use it. It is very simple and you will see what is going on. But if you are like me and just don't know what is available, then Synaptic is definitely the way to go. Either way installing any of the available packages in Debian is a breeze. And for Debian that means lots of choices.

Distribution Upgrade Issues Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 4 Solved

I logged into Ubuntu one morning and was greeted by the Update Manager wanting to update 180 files. Since I had just re-installed and this was an Alpha system I chose to proceed. But for some reason the Update Manager failed reporting a 404 error and unable to fetch the files. Well since I am still somewhat of a newbie, but learning, I wrote that error of to the servers being too busy. After all this version had just been released a few days before. A few days later I tried again but I got the same results. What's up with that? I really didn't feel like digging into it at that time either so I let it go again. Well this morning brought the same results in Update Manager and now I know there are 180 updates waiting so this can't be right. This time I turned to our trusty command shell bash and did it the easy way:
>sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
And after supplying the password and answering Y it took off and did the upgrade. You just have to love the command line for its simplicity and that it will usually work or at least give you information on the errors. For me I learned to trust the command line and I am going to learn more on this powerful tool.

Linux Distros Lagging In Package Updates For Firefox 3.5

I must say that I'm quite disappointed that I haven't been able to update to Firefox 3.5 in Mepis or Fedora. I've been touting the flag for these distros pretty high and I really thought I would at least see the Fedora 3.5 beta have an update available. But I ran apt-get update on Mepis and no new Firefox. Tried a yum update for Fedora and the same results. If I tried for just the package I would get no package available nothing to do. This was very frustrating since I know the Linux version is on Mozilla's website ready to go. In their support pages Mozilla does mention that the various distros do control the version upgrades for Firefox. Even the update now feature is locked out. I even checked the about:config file and it was locked there as well. I downloaded the Linux version but I can't do anything with it. I haven't given up. My guess is others are having the same trials and soon a Google search will turn up the methods. For now I rant and tomorrow I will test it out on Windows XP. I haven't had the time to even test drive it in Windows. Anyone using 3.5 now? What do you like about the new release? Did they leave out something you want?