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Okay, so I decided it was time to upgrade my Linux machine from Debian
"Etch" (4.0.5) to "Lenny" (5.0.3)...
Gripe #1: How to download the packages?
I don't have the Linux machine configured to connect to the internet
(and don't intend to), so I'd have to download ISO DVD images using my
Windows machine. Debian strongly suggests using jigdo (there is no
serious alternative to download images, unless one would be happy to use
BitTorrent, which I don't intend to install either).
Unfortunately, the pre-compiled jigdo for Windows won't run on XP x64;
the MSYS environment it is based on just refuses to cooperate, all I get
is an error message from sh.exe.
I guess I tried everything by now: Changing the compatibility settings
for the MSYS tools; tweaking various MSYS tweakables; praying, shouting,
swearing and cursing; re-compiling the whole MSYS environment (on my
Linux machine, using the MinGW cross-compiler, which of course I had to
install first...)
In the end I gave up, and powered up the old 32-bit Windows XP machine
once more, which had proven to run jigdo just fine back when I
downloaded the "Etch" images.
(Next problem was to burn the ISO images to DVDs; the 32-bit box only
had a CD writer - but the only DVD writing software I owned turned out
to not run on XP x64 either. Tough luck. Well, a freeware DVD writer
software was quickly found on the 'net and installed, and served the
purpose fine, so not a big deal there.)
It seems that updating was easier than some official Debian How-To
claimed: Instead of hassling with gazillions of steps on an SSH text
terminal ("do /not/ try this via an X-Window connection!"), all I did
was click some menu entries and buttons in the Synaptic Package Manager
running under Gnome, and make a few decisions whether to have some
configuration files overwritten by new versions or keep the old ones.
And reboot once, because I couldn't bother trying to figure out the
correct commands to restart a few services (most notably gdm) manually.
I said it /seems/ that updating was easier than claimed, because... um,
well... honestly I don't /know/ whether I really updated my system. It
uses a new kernel now, and all the packages have been updated from the
"Etch" versions to the "Lenny" ones. And - hey, guess what - I do have
an official Debian distribution of boost 1.35 now! Maybe there's hope to
even get 1.36 some day... :-P
If that constitutes an updated system, then yes, I apparently did update
it...
Everything seems to be fine - except...
Gripe #2: WTF?!
After updating, two essential network services appeared broken: Samba
(which I used to transfer files between the Linux and the Windows
machine), and X-Window access (which I used to actually interact with
the Linux machine... who needs a display or a keyboard on a Linux box?!).
Other network services still worked fine though (SSH, but also HTTP, for
instance), and as a matter of fact the Samba issue was easily solved by
restarting the service (well, the whole machine in this case, but I
guess having restarted only the service would have done the job just as
well :-)).
The problems with X-Window persisted though. I browsed through all the
configuration files I could think of, over and over again, without
finding any hint. I googled the 'net up and down. Symptoms remained,
invariably: Xming (which I use on the Windows side) would briefly show
the typical X-window background, then close. Even without the
"-terminate" option. And no log file would tell me why. Starting Xming
in non-XDMCP mode would work fine, but what I really wanted was XDMCP.
No way; the only hint I found was a bug report from an Ubuntu user. With
a link into nowhere.
So what did I do?
Well, here I am, sitting at an X-Window terminal connection to a
Gnome/XDM hybrid, relieved that I managed to get *some* XDMCP connection
running (without any additional hassle as it seems), but being convinced
that the font used by XDM is a tad too small, or would need ClearType,
or whatever...
Linux sucks.
Sometimes.
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