#6317 HIGH Never A: olpc-update 656 disassociates external apps installed in previous build

[Zarro Boogs per Child]

#6317: olpc-update 656 disassociates external apps installed in previous build
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  Reporter:  chihyu   |       Owner:  kimquirk      
      Type:  defect   |      Status:  new           
  Priority:  high     |   Milestone:  Never Assigned
 Component:  website  |     Version:                
Resolution:           |    Keywords:                
  Verified:  0        |    Blocking:                
 Blockedby:           |  
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Comment(by gnu):

 This is not a bug, per se.  The problem is conceptual.

 When you run "olpc-update N", you are really saying, "Install version N of
 the operating system,
 from scratch, for me".  You'll end up with a clean version N of the
 operating system.  Your user directory (/home/olpc) will remain, but
 everything else will be from a fresh install.

 Perhaps you were thinking that olpc-update was doing something more like
 "apt-get upgrade", which
 updates all the system-provided packages, leaving any modifications you
 had already made.  OLPC deliberately chose not to do this, for reasons
 that are valid in their own context, e.g. having a consistent set of
 programs across a whole classroom or a whole school.

 The real issue is that half the things you install go into system files,
 and the other half go into /home/olpc, but the user never knows which is
 which (because the system is hiding those supposedly "non essential
 details").  So the user doesn't know what stuff will be wiped out by olpc-
 update and what will be retained.  And they'll keep reporting bugs until
 the system makes it clear.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/6317#comment:7>
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