Updates & Repository

[DiamondsAndRust]

Hi,

I've been using Debian and Ubuntu for about half a year and just few days ago decided to try Mint (Daryna KDE CE). It installed alright, and I was quite impressed with its KDE style and speed. But then I edited /etc/apt/sources.list (changed the Ubuntu repository addresses to suit my country, all other parameters left the same -- even for those addresses, and I know they exist in that repo because I have Kubuntu on another partition). Then I made

Code: Select all

apt-get update

and

Code: Select all

apt-get upgrade

. Kernel was replaced (so I rebooted) and Openoffice 2.3.0 was replaced with 2.3.0.1.

What I did not like was that OO lost all its Mint'y design and became Ubunt'ish, and worse -- it now has a color scheme, independant from the system, Win95-like, although in Tools-Options-General - Appearance everything is set to Automatic. I used a special tone for text background instead of white as it reduces stress on eyes, and I can't get it anymore in OO.

Was it wrong to make the update the way I did? Is there a way to fix the color & style problem in OO?

[Husse]

It is a problem and a blessing that Mint is a sibling of (or is correct english to?) Ubuntu
You have managed to mix the two and it's not quite easy to undo it

[DiamondsAndRust]

That's what I already thought .. But then there must have been a way NOT to mix the two. What is it? What is the correct way of configuring repos and installing updates?

[Husse]

Well I'm actually not quite sure how you ended up that way
You should (read must) only have the repos for your version of Mint and the same generation in Ubuntu - i.e. for Daryna you should have Ubuntu Gutsy.
This should not "behave badly", unless apt-get upgrade is a "no go" but I don't see that

Kernel was replaced (so I rebooted) and Openoffice 2.3.0 was replaced with 2.3.0.1.

This should not happen....
Are you sure you only changed country in the Ubuntu URL in sources.list?
Pleas post the version you used when this happened.

[DiamondsAndRust]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not at home at the moment, though. But I know I really just changed the two Ubuntu lines in the sources.list of Mint. First, I compared them with the lines that were in the sources.list on the other partition were I have Kubuntu Gutsy. The differences were:

1. They had "lv." after "http://" for Latvia, so I put the "lv." in;
2. The Kubuntu sources.list had 4 lines, as it referred to universe and multiverse subsections separately from the main, while Mint had it all in 2 lines, but that doesn't matter, right?

Ok, when I'm home, I'll post both lists and other details if needed. Yesterday I took aptiude and purged all Openoffice packages but then I thought it was no point to download and reinstall them since I had made no change. Of course, I can try.

What version do you wish to know? Kernel? Mint itself? OO? KDE? apt?

[Zwopper]

Why use OOO at all, why not use KOffice with all it's nice integration (full scale prewiev of all office files in Konqueror among others)...
Just my 2 cents...

[DiamondsAndRust]

Hm.. Until now I had an impression that OOo has much more functionality than KOffice. And I need that because I work quite a bit with texts.

[Zwopper]

Hm.. Until now I had an impression that OOo has much more functionality than KOffice. And I need that because I work quite a bit with texts.

It's worth giving a try!

Code: Select all

apt install koffice* -y

[DiamondsAndRust]

Ok, I'm now home. The versions were:

Daryna 4.0 CE KDE [the DVD edition]
linux-image 2.6.22-14.46 (generic) [was replaced with 2.6.22-14.52]
kde 3.5.8-0ubuntu2.1
Openoffice.org 2.3.0-1ubuntu5 [was replaced with 2.3.0-1ubuntu5.3]

The two lines I changed in sources.list now read as follows:

deb http://lv.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://lv.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy-updates main restricted universe multiverse

[Husse]

What exactly do you mean by

Kernel was replaced

[DiamondsAndRust]

I'm not sure whether "replaced" is a correct way of saying it, but what happened was that the new linux-image package was downloaded and installed, and a new line was added in grub menu.list, so I can boot both with a new kernel version or the previous one if the new crashes.

[DiamondsAndRust]

Just did that. After update, apt no longer finds openoffice packages.

When we use multiple repos, sometimes were not sure where they are going to come from, and in the case of Mint Open Office, it does make a difference.

Should not apt pinning or smth like that be done before using repos from other distributions?

[Husse]

OK Iwas not aware that a new kernel existed.
This explains why you should use mintUpdate - it sorts out some updates that are not that good to get - like a kernel

[DiamondsAndRust]

Ok. So I had to use mintUpdate instead of apt-get from CLI. But now I have purged my OOo. How do I install it anew? mintInstall doesn' t offer me OOo (no such packages in Software Portal), so I will have to use some of the common CLI or KDE tools, and they will take OOo from Ubuntu with the same results.

[Husse]

A few posts up

Then comment out the Ubuntu repos and do a "apt-get update" then "apt-get install" OO again, and you will get it from mint.

[McLovin]

This is the exact reason I never do an "apt-get upgrade", it will grab the newest software and kernel, and those are usually from Ubuntu, and overwrite what you had, hence the situation you are now in.

[Zwopper]

I only use Mint's own update, saves me a lot of headache.

[MagnusB]

It sounds like you have "semi upgraded" to 8.04, I've seen they advertise for that in the Ubuntu updater now, that's probably why you don't get the Mint OOo theme. IIRC Ubuntu doesn't update the kernel "within a version", they only offer patch's and hacks to close security holes.