Re: Panic really setting in now!

[Luke <..hidden..>]

On Fri, 16 Oct 2009, beamends wrote:

> I kept all the config files - but the comment about a local install of

You mean you kept all the old ones?  That is a sure way to get yourself in 
the deep shizel later on.  Config files change in format and allowable 
options as programs evolve, and the longer you go without updating them, 
the more likely you are to end up with a program which doesn't start, or 
ignores half your config file, a few upgrades down the line.
Better at least to diff them and see what has changed, figure out how to 
properly do the old things in the new file, let it upgrade the 
configuration, and then adapt it to your local configuration.

> perl may be relevant - the Ubuntu upgrade failed and I had to apt_get it
> to get the desktop working.

You said that before: what do you mean it failed?  How are you doing the 
upgrade, and why is it failing?

I have worked on hundreds of Ubuntu servers, and having an "apt-get 
dist-upgrade" or similar fail, is a rare thing indeed.  Usually it's 
because a buggy package installation file, or an unanticipated 
dependency situation somehow got past the people who look for these 
things, but it is almost always resolvable.
Usually brute-force fixing it is not a good option, as you will often miss 
something unless you are some kind of expert, and forgive me, but your 
comment about paths "confusing the hell out of" you, suggests that you 
claim no such expertise.

Better to fix your problems then patch over them.

If this has happened before, the previous patches may be why you're having 
problems now.

Regards,

Luke