Re: Netbook version

[Adam Rigg <adamrigg uwm edu>]

----- pogo1 pacific net au wrote:
> I have Ubuntu 9.04 installed on my EEEPC, and I'm upgrading to 10.04.
> 
> Reading between the lines, there doesn't seem to be a way to change
> versions apart from a complete reinstallation, but just in case, is there
> a way to change the gnome interface to the netbook version without
> reinstalling Ubuntu?

In short, that may be tricky... You could always upgrade from source, but if it's one of the more economical models, it might take a good long while to compile GNOME on an eeePC, not to mention all of the dependencies that you'd have to satisfy. It looks like you're correct in that Ubuntu recommends only upgrading from one LTS release to another. So, yeah it's a possibility, but not probably not the safest decision.

That said, you could try the upgrade anyway (I never had much luck upgrading that way, so best to consult the Ubuntu forums on that one). So, should you decide to do that, you can bypass the full GNOME upgrade by installing a stable lightweight window manager and then uninstalling GNOME (sudo apt-get remove ubuntu-desktop) before the upgrade to Lucid. IF the upgrade works, you could then install the ubuntu-netbook package and remove the intermediate wm.

Whatever you do, I'd suggest that you back up everything that you don't want to lose (just in case)--The broken system possibility that Ubuntu mentions might not be apparent until after the upgrade--even a few after a couple of weeks. After several painful experiences, I stick with LTS.

Of course, what is it that you want out of upgrading? Just the new netbook "remix" to speed things up a bit? You might also try installing lighter weight applications until you get to a point when you're ready to upgrade (e.g., GNOME-Office instead of OpenOffice, Seamonkey instead of Firefox and Thunderbird). Double check on the Ubuntu site to see how long they officially support the version that you currently use.

Good luck.