Re: [LUG] Updates or no!

2009/5/27 kevin <kevin.lucas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Can I share an experience regarding up-dates and Ubuntu Hardy
My Daughter has an EEEPC and we have settled on Ubuntu Hardy as the
choice of OS. It last week did some updates and has made it's self
"unable to mount" any usb device in normal user or using sudo

So after seeing the machine gathering dust on the shelf for a week I
asked if there was a problem and was told about the error.

Looking at the Computer Section on the desktop each device gets listed
but when you want to use them you get the same message "unable to mount
wrong file type"!

So looking in the /etc/fstab I have two cd drives listed on /dev/sdc1
and /dev/sdc2 knowing that the EEEpc has no Cd drives commenting the
lines out gets me usb mounting back. Easy

But what if I had not been around and asked the question? My guess she
would have eventually gone and got another machine.

Why is it common for us to fall for the continual update regime?
I advise all Windoze users to Switch off updates for just this reason.
I don't update any in service system unless its to get something better
or something which wasn't achievable before. mostly its done on a new
disk with the system copied overso when it all goes pare shaped I revert
to the origional and I 'am no worse off.

Do we need a roll back button on Linux now?

Regards

Kevin Lucas

I agree wholeheartedly with Kevin.

I used the upgrade option (that appeared as a system update) for Mandriva recently, to upgrade to the new version. When I rebooted, the standard input devices (built in mouse and keyboard) no longer worked and consequently, I was unable to log in and had no chance of rectifying the problem in a simple, straightforward way. Even if the problem was later fixed, it wouldn't have helped me - I still would have been left with an unusable laptop.

I reinstalled using Suse instead and all was fine. But, if I had been a beginner, I too may have ended up just buying a new laptop. And, I doubt very much if I would have ever gone near Linux again.

Viv