[conspire] Dapper & Easyubuntu

[Daniel Gimpelevich]

On Sun, 03 Dec 2006 17:10:20 -0800, John Andrews wrote:

> I installed some multimedia libs to get the dvd going, after reading a
> couple of how to articles.I used apt-get to install pitdll, gxine,
> libxine-main1, libxine-extra codecs, ogle, ogle gui, w32-codecs and
> maybe a couple other like libdvdread etc.. The dvd plays! but the sound
> plays at about 10%. 
> 	My real question is about easyubuntu.I got it installed ok but it's
> really not that easy,duh because the wget key-thing kept returning an
> error 8080.I ended up doing it manually from a key server and importing
> it into the system. (gpg --armor i think. and apt-key add). The sudo
> python easyubutu.in passes the sanity check.Then the gui gives a warning
> that some of the codecs are already installed and grey's out those
> choices.After choosing another check box to try, it seems to function
> properly and retreives a package but then it can't install it and
> returns an error about broken packages needing to be fixed first.

The Ubuntu community generally frowns upon the use of the EasyUbuntu-like
setup assistant Automatix because Automatix is known to cause lots of
breakage at random, including the kind of breakage you have just described
EasyUbuntu as having caused. They generally recommend the use of
EasyUbuntu instead of Automatix, but I strongly recommend against the use
of either -- in the case of EasyUbuntu, primarily because of a lack of
transparency (to me). EasyUbuntu's stability and reliability supposedly
matured when it was recoded from scratch in Python, when its scope was
also greatly expanded. Python is not a language that I have ever really
learned at all in any way, so even Perl code is easier for me to read than
Python code. EasyUbuntu now has lots and lots of Python code, and I'm not
about to examine all of it to build up enough trust to touch running
EasyUbuntu with a 10-foot pole. In light of stories like yours, that's how
little I trust it. When Dapper Drake was released, I constructed my own
EasyUbuntu-like setup assistant with a largely minimalist rationale,
albeit only for i386, and posted it to this very list. At this point, it's
probably still the best thing around for Dapper, and I have tweaked it
many times since for greater perfection. I really need to get around to
concocting a version of it for Edgy Eft. You may find the Dapper
instructions here:
http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/conspire/2006-June/002071.html

> 	The synaptic package manager doesn't show any broken packages.How can I
> repair the broken packages and get eayubuntu to work right?
> 
> PS I decide to nuke mac os 9.2 and install straight Tiger on the old G3
> imac.I'd use Ubuntu but it's for my mother and she doesn't understand
> computer that well.(at all really)Besides I already bought mac Tiger.
> Maybe I can learn about Fink/X11/Open source/XTools/ stuff.There's a lot
> of open source packages available that I never knew about. Gnome,Kde,
> Open Office etc..

If you want to deal mostly with open-source software, people who don't
understand computers well just don't mix with OS X. In the realm of
open-source software, no environment is better suited to such people today
than Ubuntu. NONE. That isn't to say that it's well-suited; it really
isn't, but nothing beats it today. This is, of course, not considering
people who don't understand computers well but have extensive experience
with MS Windows. For those people, obviously some sort of KDE-based
solution would be far more suitable. Among that genre, Bruce keeps
recommending PCLinuxOS, which may very well top the list, but don't count
on me to confirm that in any way. I also think that my impression that
Bruce focuses more on ease of installation and initial setup as opposed to
ease of everyday use is well worth considering when evaluating his advice.