[ale] AARG! Manual software updates, Sun Java, LibreOffice, help

[Ron Frazier]

Hi all,

Last night I rebooted into an Ubuntu Live CD v 10.04. I wanted to 
refresh my memory as to exactly what the system was like the day it was 
born. I connected it to the internet, ran 196 updates, then declined a 
reboot since that would lose the changes. From other discussions in this 
thread, I've essentially received advice to let the package manager deal 
with security and bug fixes and don't worry about it, and don't worry 
about version numbers. I'm OK with that, if it works. However, because 
my installation is pretty old, there are some things that aren't in the 
package manager which give me problems. It's those that I have questions 
about. I've had to install PPA's into the Synaptic repositories settings 
screens in order to get these programs working. So, my main concern is 
whether these will be updated or not. And, if not, do I have to do 
routine manual updates.

---------------------------

Firefox

As I mentioned in another message, Firefox refused to update past 
3.6.23. I had to update to v7 in order to get Pandora to work after they 
upgraded their website. In order to do that, I had to install this PPA:

http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/firefox-stable/ubuntu

After doing that, and updating, I was immediately at Firefox 7. That 
solved my problem.

Based on this article: 
http://askubuntu.com/questions/6339/how-do-i-install-the-latest-stable-version-of-firefox 
, I think this comes directly from Mozilla team at Ubuntu, but am not 
sure. I think it's going to be continuously updated, but am not sure.

---------------------------

LibreOffice

When my distribution was built, OpenOffice was the default office suite. 
When Oracle took that over and LibreOffice was born, I decided to 
switch. The problem is, that LibreOffice was not in the Synaptic package 
manager anywhere. To get it at all, and still use Synaptic, I had to 
install this PPA:

http://ppa.launchpad.net/libreoffice/ppa/ubuntu

This article talks about it: 
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/01/new-ppa-makes-installing-libreoffice-on-ubuntu-easy/

I have it working. However, the latest version Synaptic is showing is 
3.3.2 and the LibreOffice website shows 3.4.3. I'm not sure who manages 
this PPA and I'm not sure how often it is updated with patches.

---------------------------

Oracle Java6 JRE and possibly JDK

When my distribution was built, OpenJDK was the default Java system. 
Oracle Java (called Sun Java) was not in the package manager anywhere. 
To get it at all, and still use Synaptic, I had to install this PPA:

http://ppa.launchpad.net/sun-java-community-team/sun-java6/ubuntu

This article talks about it: 
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-install-java-runtime-environment-jre-in-ubuntu-10-10-maverick-using-ppa.html
(It works in 10.04 too.)

When I rebooted with the Live CD and installed this PPA, Synaptic would 
only show Sun Java v6.21. However, my current system is up to v6.26. Not 
quite sure how. Anyway, the Java website is up to Java v 6.29.

Based on recent Googling around, it appears that this will no longer be 
updated, and that there won't be any automated way to get the Sun Java 
JRE or JDK.

---------------------------

So, if any of you can shed light on who maintains these PPA's and 
whether they will be updated, please do. Keep in mind that, with my 
distribution, I never had the option of installing LibreOffice or Oracle 
Java without adding the PPA's, other than a fully manual install. 
However, I'm trying to keep the package manager in the loop as much as 
possible. Here's what I think will happen on my system with the PPA's I 
have:

Firefox - I think it will stay up to date, comparable to Windows.

LibreOffice - I don't know how up to date it will be since there is a 
version discrepancy between Synaptic and the LibreOffice website.

Oracle Java - I don't think it will stay up to date based on recent 
legal wrangling at Oracle. I think I'll have to uninstall and reinstall 
this manually every month or so.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

Ron


-- 

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Ron Frazier

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linuxdude AT c3energy.com