Figured I would move to this section as can make some suggestions to younger builders as myself. Now from some of my rants you can see I have used Ubuntu Builder and command line to create systems. Both methods of building can have great consequences to those of us that do not have vast experience! So hopefully, I can set some things out to help so those that are building can be helped to avoid tragic results! Now remember, I have close to a year building so do not have vast experience, but I have seen many many troubles and now know how to avoid some.
Now this post is going to concentrate on images that were started but not completed. For instance, a few days ago I found the 3rd save I had for the 2nd OS I created. The state it is in is has not been touched since May. So that means there is 1500mbs of downloads. Now some would think to just open the image up by command line and simply type: apt-get dist-upgrade Now would be very effective if we simply just had the original mini it started out with. Remember, we are looking at all the desktops were installed.Another fact I am looking at is I can not afford to turn 1500mbs into double that, since that would be costly in a 3g situation! Now what happens many times if you would open by command line and start this upgrading process, many parts will be removed and will be loads of hassles! To go back and spend another day re-installing all the missing pieces is not a picnic! Been there, done it! End result, most times something is still missing and does not run correctly!
Number one and is the most important fact of no matter which way you would proceed to update, is to UPDATE YOUR SOURCES!!! Remember, Linux is moving quick repositories move or shut down, so to leave old sources in this image will simply waste your time! Believe me, I have made that mistake several times! Now, I have this image in need of massive updates, so here is my solution. First, I open it up with Ubuntu Builder, why? I can use Synaptic to slowly but surely bring this image of May to the equivalent of today's standards! Not only that, at that stage of building had less experience so made larger mistakes. I can now correct those mistakes! So the image is now opened by Ubuntu Builder since this time I am going to have Synaptic help me upgrade. I generally can not get this option happening by command line so UB is best for me doing it this way! First though before I hit reload on Synaptic I am changing etc/apt/sources.list. I simply use gedit open that list up and delete every single line as to save time. Next, I take the same list from currrent OS Xavius(my own name for it) and edit select all copy/paste all those sources into that old relic!
Next after all that is done and those files have been saved and closed, I click on reload on Synaptic. In my situation will take about 10 minutes to fully reload all the information needed. Next, now most would think first to update would be kernel, right? A month or two, yes, but not this long! First we head to update initramfs-tools. This is the beating heart of the system! I started this the other day and had to backtrack since I did not remember this point! Very, and I mean very important! If you have built these systems you will always notice initramfs is the glue of the system if it goes to south, you're done! After that simple and fast download we are then ready to proceed to updating the kernel next! Now since we have the aid of Synaptic that can give us a nice visual of what problems we can go through or how we can update simply is awesome! Of course once the new kernel is installed remember to remove the old one, we do not need anything getting in the way of running correctly! We can also use sudo nemo, nautilus, or whatever fav window manager to delete vmlinuz.old and initrd.img.old
As stated originally, if we just let the entire update happen, pieces will be lost(removed) and is not good for those of us that do not know every single part of these systems! Now the kernel is updated, next we go to one of the desktops. I started with Gnome and updated all around gdm, shell, gnome and gnome-core. Once the smaller parts are updated we can go back to those and generally they will simply cooperate and update without removing themselves! I did the same with KDE. The beauty of Synaptic is it will pause a second and you then know many things want to remove. So you simply forget updating that part until all the other accompanying pieces are updated! You can then go back and update those easily and nothing gets removed! I have a firm belief the less use of apt-get -f install, the better! Not saying we never need to use it, but for updating purposes 9/10 is not at all necessary and can be avoided with a little common sense as am trying to explain in this post. We know major overhauls to Linux have ensued since May when this image was created. So we must update all around the major core components so those components can install more easily! Sure is time consuming, but we can then use that time for things we will be doing to adjust the system so it also looks good on the install!
Remember, we have files located in usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas just waiting to be worked! We also might have pictures, themes and icons we can be adding while these updates are being done! In my case, also job apps to fill! Anyway, am just hoping this idea will help someone else in a similar predicament and remain preserved for those that are contemplating building their own systems. Is a lot of work, have been through many many troubles with them and if I can help someone avoid those troubles, you know I am going to!!!! I refuse to sit back and laugh at someone having trouble, nope will jump in and do my best to get them out of hot water!!!! Also best wishes to those building their own. Added suggestions are always welcomed as it helps all of us get better at using our OS's and building them! Will be back with more info as time permits!!!