Ubuntu Dapper was originally pegged for release in April, but is now set for June. However, it’s already stable (in my experience), and markedly better than Breezy. Here’s a brief guide to upgrading. This assumes you’re already running [*]Ubuntu Breezy, like any sane computer user.
NOTE - proceed at your own risk. This is just a friendly how to; I’m not responsible if you lose data, etc etc.
- First, ideally your hard disk is partioned such that /home has its own partition. The point of this is that if you screw up your base install, you won’t lose any of your data or settings, and can just do a new install on top of the existing. If it isn’t, strongly consider a complete rebuild of your computer, to get /home on its own.
- Next, download the Breezy install CD if you don’t have it already. This is so that you can rollback if need be. It’s possible (but not likely) that something will go tragically wrong during the upgrade, and you’ll need to put your PC back to the way it was.
- OK, on to the good stuff. One final check before we begin the upgrade; make sure that apt has enough disk space to work. If apt’s cache fills up halfway through the upgrade, it can do stupid things (such as forget to configure your kernel.) Do this to check: df -k /var/cache/apt. You should have at least 1.5GBs free there. If not, download the Dapper Install CD, and run the upgrade from there; it’s safer. Otherwise, proceed.
- Using sudo and your favorite text editor, edit /etc/apt/sources.list, and change all “breezy”s to “dapper” on official sources. If you have third party repositories in that file (and if you do, I hope you know what you’re doing,) check them to see if they have a dapper section yet.
- If you prefer the CLI: run the upgrade: sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get dist-upgrade. Wait 5 minutes until it has calculated the upgrade, review what it is proposing (especially what it wants to remove; make sure that everything is being replaced — e.g. you may see that x has a different package name) and confirm. Go make a cup of tea, walk the dog, and come back to your upgraded computer. Reboot. Enjoy.
- Wait, you’re sane, and prefer a GUI? No problem. Open synaptic, press refresh, mark all upgrades, apply. (Note, click junkies; this is NOT the time to install new software; just get the upgrade done and verified first.) Review exactly what it is proposing to do (see previous) and when satisfied, confirm. Go make a cup of coffee, kick the cat around a little, and come back to your upgraded lovemachine. Reboot. Enjoy.
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