Updating programs

Could anybody explain how I can update some programs on my Linux lappy? I have figured out how to install but its been a few months and there are some programs that have had releases since then (Firefox, OpenOffice, etc). Namely Inkscape. I have 0.46 but would like to use 0.47 as it has some neat new features. Google has not been able to help me find a guide on how to update. I found guides for all the other programs I wanted to update but this one has eluded me (Firefox is a work in progress, so not updating until after my exams). Any suggestions? Is there some sort of general guidelines I could follow?

Thanks so much!

 

First off, you go to a terminal. Then you type in:

Code:

sudo aptitude safe-upgrade

However, note that your distro may not include newer applications. I see you are using Crunchbang 9.04.01, which is nearly two releases behind Ubuntu. I recommend installing Ubuntu Karmic, or waiting until the end of this month and installing Ubuntu Lucid.

 

I'm not doing anything to my OS until school is out and even then I worry. I have 6 years of photos and vital docs backed up on this laptop (I don't trust the main desktop). I also have entire online courses on here. Losting any of that would be a really, really bad thing. And thats roughly 30GB of data if not more. I do plan on upgrading the OS before I head off to Uni. Can I upgrade the OS without loosing all of my data? I'm a bit worried about doing anything with Ubuntu (the orginal) again. I had major issues last time (Jaunty). Plus I like #!.

 

The problem with #! that it is not supposed to be stable, and #! is switching base to Debian, so you have no upgrade path. Period. #! 9.04 is based on Jaunty, so I don't see where your problems could lie in the first place.

If I were you, I would wait and install Ubuntu Lucid, it's an LTS(Long Term Support) release, and will receive updates throught the years to come, Jaunty however, will not, in fact I believe Jaunty End Of Life is in October.

However, Debian Stable is also another option, it's proven to be stable and will receive updates for quite some time. However, hardware support will probably be lacking, and new programs just won't be there. I suggest Ubuntu 10.04. It comes out April 29 I believe, and even after the end of life of 10.04(in a few years), you still have an upgrade path.

For your data, I HIGHLY recommend an external hard drive, no matter what. Always good to have a backup.

 

Thank you. I did note that. I was having graphics card support issues and had a nasty crash that wiped my drive. So I left, planning on coming back to Karmic which at the time was 3 months away. Then life happened and all I did was struggle to survive. I am sad to admit that all those commands and programming skills I worked hard to get went out the window. I'm serious, the other night it took me over 1/2 to do some simple sensor checks. I also was not planning on taking all that high risk data on this lappy. But after Vista started crashing the main desktop at least once a week, I had to.

Anyway, you recommend Lucid? I'll look into to it, I like the sound of LTS. Can I get it to run Openbox instead of GNOME (its the suspect in the previous issues)? I really like the visuals I have in #! (Openbox, and Conky with ADeskBar) I was once-upon-a-time planning on moving up to Arch but now I'm not so sure. Will an external hard-drive make switching distros easier?

 

Jaunty did have some grpahics issues to start with, and #! had some updated packages vs Jaunty when it came out. I highly doubt gnome could cause the issues you refer to, I think it's to due with the package versions in Jaunty vs #! default. You can still get openbox under Lucid, yes, but I recommend trying out Gnome for awhile. If you need any help understanding any commands, feel free to post here or PM/IM me. And to answer your question, an external HDD will make it easier, because it will ensure all your files are safe while upgrading/reinstalling/installign new distros.

 

u should be able to install openbox in lucid..i believe u can install it from the synaptic package manager..i've never used to ..but u could do some googling and such. also the ubuntuforums come in handy

Edit: thomas ninjad me**

 

Hi there
longer time no see. I still remember your post where you installed your first linux
Still have that asus k40 laptop?
Well anyway, as the guys said, backup your precious data and install that 10.04 LTS thingy. I'd use at least 2 backup places - e.g. external hdd + like 6 burnt DVD's or eternal hdd + desktop pc. And I'd made sure the backups are OK
Anyway, considered your past linux experience, you're gonna be pretty much OK

 

Besides following Thomas' advice you could just wipe all the operating system stuff and keep your data on a separate partition. I would assume since you can use Crunchbang you would be able to do this but from what you just said you don't seem to have the skill even though you want to use Arch Linux which is a self proclaimed distribution for experts so I back up what Thomas said about getting an external hard drive.

 

A girl can dream It's coming back slowly but yeah, bye-bye skills. I'm going to look into some external data storage. Happy to hear about Openbox working on Lucid. I love it, sleek and neat. Conky looks good in it and now that all my sensor codes are up and working, its going good. And yes, its still the k40. Love it and recommend it to anybody.

 

Good luck And you can run Conky and Openbox in Gnome if you wanted to try that too

 

I *think* I can fit most of the docs on to my UBS key, its 16GB. I discovered that there was a file of photos that was HUGE and turns out somebody finally got around to backing it up. That means I can move forward with updating everything sooner!

Does anybody foresee any issues with my Laptop's components? In the past I had issues with the audio (speakers, easily fixed thanks to a great member on this board!), graphics card (the death of my laptop for a bit) and the wireless ethernet connection.

ETA - answered one of my questions... if I read correctly Lucid has new open source support for my graphics card. I really like the sound of whats all happened. Seriously considering the switch now. I also found out that the school I'm going to in the fall has full support for Ubuntu and Arch users. Cool!

 

What school is that? Where did you find that information?

 

UoGuelph, here in Ontario. Their IT program recommends that those students use Linux and my friends asked around and found out that campus wide Linux is welcome in particular Ubuntu and Arch, as they are apparently most widely used. I thought it was cool.

 

Just based on your posts, stick to Ubuntu And another note, Lucid will have far better support for your hardware than Jaunty.

 

Yeah. I'm too chicken to try Arch in the end anyway. Maybe one day I'll have extra cash and buy a nice lappy to mess around on. But Bear has to last me for another 5 years so I can't kill him yet. LOL Thanks so much! In the meantime I'm going to do some more terminal work. What would be my best approach for switching to Lucid?

 

I believe Lucid will be out April 29th, so when the day comes backup your files, and burn Lucid to a disc, and boot it up