Yesterday I decided to update my Kubuntu to the latest version. I did this whole process from within the operating system itself.
However, I, knowing that Linux will be Linux, was very prepared for this. I burned a copy of the newest version to a CD, fully expecting that everything would be broken and that I’d have to clean install. I backed up my entire /home folder to an external hard drive, a process which took about three hours by the way. I started early so as to give myself the entire day to fix my computer if something went wrong, which I was sure something would. I mean, this is Linux, after all.
Then I hit the Upgrade button.
Two uneventful hours passed while the upgrade did its thing. I tried to stay away from the computer at this point, because I worried I would do something to mess it up, but to be honest the computer was nice and usable the entire time. After the two hours were complete it asked me to restart the computer, so I did.
…
…EVERYTHING WORKED.
I was in shock. I honestly couldn’t believe it. The upgrade had gone flawlessly. It even cleared old kernel versions out of Grub for me. What’s more, it seems to have fixed the sound issues I’ve having since a few months back (where half of my sound/music related programs one day decided to stop working.)
Oh, speaking of which, Amarok is now scrobbling correctly to Last.fm. It hasn’t done that in MONTHS. I would burst into hallelujahs at this point but I’ve already moved on to Clementine which is Amarok without the new over-the-top interface.
The only thing I had to fix was that upon logging in for the first time the bottom panel was missing. I solved this problem by right clicking on the top panel, selecting “Add Panel” and then dragging the various widgets there that I wanted. That was it. Five minutes, tops.
I couldn’t tell whether I wanted to be happy or horrified. Like, I wanted to scream “WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH LINUX” at the screen. Regardless, it’s a big victory for what the Ubuntu folks want, so that’s pretty exciting.
The ultimate test will be when I move in a couple weeks and have to set up *gulp* wireless…
shoulda used something harder, that you know would have been broken, more fun that way.
@ morkuma – I know right? I need to install Gentoo or something.
@Pike hehe, “Gentoo – Linux for ricers” I must say, the *ubuntu versions of Linux seem very geared towards making things easier for people now.
Meh. Only time I had issues updating Gentoo was when they’d push big changes for GCC or glibc down the pipe. I *love* the emerge system, but I don’t have the desire to wait for everything to build anymore.
I say go for a “Linux From Scratch” install. That’s a blast. Gentoo is when you want to feel 1337 but are actually lazy 😛
I’ve been really impressed with Rhythmbox on this release of Ubuntu. It can even play songs off of, and send songs to, my iphone
Upgrade issues don’t seem to have been inherent to Linux, per se, but little glitches in the distros. For example, most if not all of the issues I had with Ubuntu went away when I used Mint – which is a superset of Ubuntu, so go figure.
On the other hand, wife just borked her laptop trying to get a dual boot system set up. You just never know.
I was expecting the same thing with mine – I’ve never been a big fan of apt-get dist-upgrade’s, but everything was hunky dory afterwards.
Oh, and FTR – I haven’t had any troubles setting up wireless across three machines and networks with 10.04, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you 😀
Congrats on the successful update, and further, an update with no hick-ups. 🙂
I’m a Gentoo person, myself, and have been since 2002. So thank you for not bashing it. 🙂 Gentoo is the exact opposite of lazy, since one quite literally has to get into the “guts” of Linux and, to a degree, be a person with serious OCD. 😛 I certainly do not have a desire to prove I am 1337. I simply like what the distro offers me. If you like to milk every last performance power from your machine and/or love choices, Gentoo may be your distro. Gentoo certainly delivers choice.
Ubuntu (or Kubuntu) I like, too. It gets the feet wet of those people who are borderline about Linux. Ubuntu has a VERY good installation system and the GUI is well configured for a shoe-in if Windows is one’s only experience. Not just Windows users, of course, but those that just don’t want to be bothered having to learn all the command line routines. You know, people that actually want to USE Linux, not fix it all of the time. 🙂
Believe it or not, Gentoo and Ubuntu have the same parent. 🙂 I probably would have used Ubuntu instead of Red Hat when I was first getting into Linux back in 1997. Beyond Solaris (well technically SunOS then) I did not have much Unix/Posix environment experience.
So in the end, stick with it and don’t be afraid to experiment. 🙂
Sincerely,
Not a Gentoo user, but a LINUX user.
Great Pike!
I did the same.
I have a upgrade of Ubuntu Lucid AMD64 on my laptop – a pain for me with wireless, but the upgrade work w/o any issues. It looks better and runs fine.
I did the same with my WUBI insall Kubuntu AMD32 (64 bit chip but originially I had issues with getting all software to run, so I did a 32bit install) on my desktop. It upgrade everything fine, no changes to login screen or wallpaper, and the wireless retained all settings. Painless. I liked it very much.
Even my World of Warcraft intallation is working fine so far.
I think I’ll try to install Fallout 3 and Battlefield 2 and Modern Warfare 2 onto my laptop since space is limited on the desktop.
I’ve ordered a Kubuntu AMD64 server disk for when I buy another desktop and dedicate my current one to Kubuntu only.
Thanks to YOU, I gave KDE and Ubuntu a try sometime ago. It just FEELS RIGHT reading The Clockwork Hare and Aspect of the Hare in KDE. 😉
Amdue
Pike. i need help. i just installed linux ubuntu 8.04.3 and i cant connects to the internet. when i open firefox, it says browser off. how do i turn my browser on???
tank you,
Tamaren
@ Tamaren – I’m afraid I haven’t heard of that problem. Try Ubuntu Forums?