From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Thu, 2/20/2025 4:59 AM, Davey wrote:   
   > On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 15:26:51 -0500   
   > Paul  wrote:   
   >   
   >> On Mon, 2/17/2025 6:32 AM, Davey wrote:   
   >>   
   >>>   
   >>> cd ~   
   >>> ls -a   
   >>> 	(bunch of stuff)   
   >>> 	.mozilla   
   >>> 	(bunch more stuff)   
   >>> cd .mozilla   
   >>> ls   
   >>> 	extensions   
   >>>   
   >>> No sign of Firefox (nor TB, but that's probably in snap).   
   >>>   
   >>> In all, this is pointless. I will try something different, whether   
   >>> it's Ubuntu 24.04, or Linux Mint, which I am currently downloading.   
   >>>   
   >>> More later, thanks for help.   
   >>>   
   >>   
   >> I'm going back outside in a moment, but I'll make the general   
   >> comment that these two things, are stored in different areas.   
   >>   
   >   
   > Big snip for brevity.   
   >   
   >> I've done a few Upgrades on Ubuntu, and nothing untoward   
   >> happened to any profiles. It was all still there. On some   
   >> occasions, I had to restore my setup from backup, because   
   >> I forgot a step from preparation. Upgrades can be   
   >> broken by custom-installed materials, and you're supposed   
   >> to keep crib notes for later, as to what things need to be   
   >> removed, before the Upgrade process kicks off. I usually   
   >> get it right after the second or third try.   
   >>   
   >>    Paul   
   >   
   > For now, I have a system which is basically functional.   
   >   
   > I have the earlier installation of Ubuntu 22.04 on my newish desktop,   
   > done a few months ago.   
   > This one, on the daily-use laptop, was done a couple of weeks ago, from   
   > the same USB stick. Both were clean installations.   
   >   
   > I now have working: Facebook, Thunderbird, Clawsmail. I still cannot get   
   > Local Folders working properly either.   
   > Also LibreOffice and Handbrake work on both.   
   >   
   > gFTP, which I used before to move files between my laptop and my Humax   
   > PVR, won't work on either machine. But Filezilla does.   
   >   
   > VLC works fine on the desktop, but will not on the laptop.   
   >   
   > Okular works on the desktop, I have not yet tried it on the laptop.   
   > Ditto GNU Image processor.   
   >   
   > On the laptop, I have sorted out the failing rsync scripts, and also   
   > restored ssh operations based on the laptop. There are lots of other   
   > applications before that I will only try again as and when I need them.   
   >   
   > So I am in a position where I can function almost as before, using the   
   > laptop.   
   > Yesterday, I ran Linux Mint on the desktop, which took ages to laod,   
   > and at a first glance, it did not seem able to locate, and therefore   
   > install, vlc. It did give me functioning Facebook and Thunderbird,   
   > though. I did not try Clawsmail.   
   > I assume that there is a different process to find and install other   
   > programmes such as VLC, but I will not load Linux Mint again for a   
   > while.   
   >   
   > I now need to find how to move the Launchbar to the bottom of the   
   > screen (GNOME?). Research later today.   
   > And that's the state of play.   
   >   
      
   # Example of checking for packages with that name (looking for .deb type   
   material)   
   # aptitude package tool and synaptic package manager, are examples of   
   installers.   
      
   apt search vlc   
      
   # Assuming a package of that name exists, this should install it   
      
   sudo apt install vlc   
      
   # If it were available only as a SNAP (like this was Ubuntu) then   
   # the commands should be of a similar form. Either the manual page   
   # (man snap) or snap -help should give the syntax.   
      
   snap search vlc   
      
   sudo snap install vlc   
      
   *******   
      
   Linux Mint takes longer to load, because of the sheer weight of systemd   
   commands it has in it. Presumably these came from Ubuntu. Some of   
   the specious Ubuntu materials get removed by Clem, and some other Mint   
   versions load quickly.   
      
   If you do this:   
      
      cat /etc/fstab   
      
   that shows mount entries that the installer process placed there.   
   The comments are the part of interest.   
      
   Your swap can be implemented as a partition (swapon -a),   
   or the swap can be a /swapfile (swap as a file, sitting on a   
   partition known to load). The OS gets "itchy" if it cannot   
   find a swap. It starts loading some RAID packages, scans   
   for ZFS or BTRFS, looks under sofa cushions for a swap.   
   And... this slows the boot process.   
      
   You can use the dmesg command   
      
      dmesg   
      sudo dmesg      # If it complained on the first attempt   
      
   and you can see notations of things amiss in there. But   
   not all conditions (like the missing swap) are immediately   
   apparent. The "top" command can show the state of swap,   
   whether the quantity of swap is zero, or some swap is now   
   in service.   
      
      Paul   
      
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