desktoplinux.com — OK, Desktop Linux heads, I'm a confessed newbie trying to switch to Linux from XP. My simplyMEPIS install from an ISO went well, but now, on day two, my attempts to install the just-released Firefox 2.0.0.5 update have failed.
Jul 18, 2007 View in Crawl 4
jmo506Jul 18, 2007
"I right click Updater, select Action...Run (as root). KDE asks for my password, which is root."Your root password is "root?" You might want to change that.
trogdoorJul 18, 2007
Security and bug fixes from most distributions are backported rather than upgrading to a new version entirely ( this is true of all programs, not firefox specific ), if there were any vulnerabilities affecting Linux the updates will be automatically installed by your package manager, no need to do it yourself. The only time you will get a new version is when you upgrade to the next release of that distribution, there are also distributions that do "rolling" upgrades where there are no discrete versions and every application is updated as new versions are released. ( BTW this is one of the reasons that having just distribution doesn't make sense as there are advantages to both approaches and it is important to be able to decide which suits your needs best )
Closed AccountJul 19, 2007
i must have missed the part about why we should give a damn
xilonJul 19, 2007
Definitely a n00b. First thing you should learn about are package managers. Linux uses them. It doesn't exist on Windows (well, I guess STEAM is one...)You don't update or even install applications seperately (most of the time), instead you get the package manager to do it for you.Simple as:pacman -S firefoxWhen a new version comes out:pacman -Syu OR pacman -Sy firefox(On Archlinux or any distro using pacman)This is the reason "'Check for Updates' was grayed out"."Maybe a reboot will work."... On linux? Unlikely, unless you upgraded the kernel. Forget EVERYTHING you learnt on Windows."Reboot is like a five minute experience to get to the SimplyMEPIS 6.5 login."SimplyMepis is a ubuntu derivative is it not? If so it's not suprising. Ubuntu is the slowest distro I've seen... maybe second to Mandriva. On Archlinux I boot in under 20 seconds (From Grub to a working desktop). A restart would probably take ~35 seconds.
matchman111Jul 21, 2007
For Linux to be successful on the desktop, to hit the tipping point and really take off, it'll have to be nOOb proof. There is huge upside to Linux that is NOT being promoted. I think it's a single (but big) step away from the abstraction level that could be the tipping point. What's needed are marketing mavens who can dig out the real gems (e.g., backported auto updates/no reboots). Maybe Portland is the answer if they discover and promote the key strategic advantages in a professional way.At any rate, this guy's problem may be below YOUR radar, and thus a non-starter, but it's not below the irk level of those millions of potential converts sitting on the other side of the tipping point.