Cleanup broken package

I tried to downgrade the flashplugin to the previous 9 release, but all .deb installer packages I found on the web fail, cause they try to download a non-existing file from Macromedia website.

The problem I run into was that my Ubuntu system thought that the flashplugin-nonfree package was installed on the system, but I always failed to remove it with aptitude, apt-get or synaptic, leaving the package marked as broken.

Couldn't reinstall, nor purge, nor install any other package, because my system always claimed about the flashplugin-nonfree package.

Errors like these appeared:

 Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should
 reinstall it before attempting a removal.

Finally, I found some instructions which are able to remove the package information completely from the system, leaving apt in a state, where the package isn't marked as installed nor broken.

Install instructions

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/dpkg/info/flashplugin-nonfree.*
sudo dpkg --remove --force-depends --force-remove-reinstreq flashplugin-nonfree

Just replace flashplugin-nonfree with any package name that gives you trouble.

Global problems with the package repository

Sometimes you might not be able to install any package and you receive strange errors, like this:

Could not initialize the package information
A unresolvable problem occurred while initializing the package information.
Please report this bug against the 'update-manager' package and include the following error message:
'E:Encountered a section with no Package: header, E:Problem
 with MergeList 
/var/lib/apt/lists/archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_hardy-updates_multiverse_binary-i386_Packages,
 E:The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.'

Somehow, apt's internal package repository cache got corrupted, so with the following commands you can recreate it from scratch.

sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/* -vf
sudo apt-get update

Now, you should be able to install packages as usual.

Trying to install from an outdated repository

It might be even worse, your Ubuntu version is an old release and is not supported any longer.
In that case, it's repositories are moved to an archive server.
You get errors like:

Reading package lists... Done               
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done    
E: Couldn't find package xyz

But your package is probably available at http://old-releases.ubuntu.com
 The reason for this is that it is now out of support and no longer receiving updates and security patches.
If you don't want to upgrade to a newer distribution but want to continue using your outdated release then edit /etc/apt/sources.list and change archive.ubuntu.com to old-releases.ubuntu.com

sudo sed -i -e 's/archive.ubuntu.com\|security.ubuntu.com/old-releases.ubuntu.com/g' /etc/apt/sources.list
sudo apt-get update

Install new fonts in your system

In a previous post, we learned how to convert Open Type fonts into True Type ones.
Now we'll learn how to store them in your system, so all text and graphics applications will find and use them.
Normally, you'll not un-/install fonts continuously on your system, so you would prefer (like me) a simple way, without the need to install additional software (like kfontview on KUbuntu, or the ones you can find for Windows).

On Ubuntu

All fonts can be stored in two locations:

1. In ~/.fonts
   Only you will see fonts copied here. You can copy fonts here with nautilus or from the shell:
   

   mkdir -p ~/.fonts         # make sure folder exists
   cp *.tff  ~/.fonts          # or whatever's the name of the fonts you want to copy
   fc-cache -f -v ~/.fonts   # reload the font cache to make new fonts visible



2. In /usr/share/fonts/truetype
   All users will see fonts copied here. You can copy fonts here with nautilus or from the shell:
   

   mkdir -p /usr/share/fonts/truetype/myfonts    # create a sub-folder to be organized
   cp *.tff  /usr/share/fonts/truetype/myfonts   # or whatever's the name of the fonts you want to copy
   fc-cache -f -v       # reload the global font cache to make new fonts visible

No extra software is needed. But even so, we'll mention a useful tool that doesn't come in your default Ubuntu installation: Specimen Font Previewer, a simple tool to view and compare fonts installed on your system.
You can install it from the Applications menu or from the shell:

sudo aptitude install gnome-specimen

Note: In a previous post, I explained how to install certain Microsoft fonts on your Ubuntu system.

On Windows

Fonts are installed in only one location: %WINDIR%\Fonts
Just open this location with the explorer and copy any font files here. They'll be immediately available for all users.

Mind mapping - Freemind

FreeMind is a premier free mind-mapping software written in Java and therefore a multi-platform high productivity tool.
It claims that its operation and navigation is faster than that of MindManager (a commercial software only for Windows).

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing.

Install instructions

I highly recommend to install the latest release candidate 0.9.0rc3. Just unpack the archive somewhere and launch freemind with one of the startup scripts for your platform (and of course, make sure you have Java installed).

Automatic updates

If you want to get automatic updates, use Ubuntu's package management.

sudo -s
echo "deb http://eric.lavar.de/comp/linux/debian/ unstable/deb-src http://eric.lavar.de/comp/linux/debian/ unstable/
deb http://eric.lavar.de/comp/linux/debian/ experimental/
deb-src http://eric.lavar.de/comp/linux/debian/ experimental/" > /tmp/freemind.list
mv /tmp/freemind.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d
aptitude update
aptitude install freemind
exit

At the moment, this will install Release Candidate 1-2, not the latest one.

MS Project 2003 on Ubuntu

As I already mentioned about Gantt Charting, on Windows commonly used is MS Office Project. Not always you can avoid its use, especially if anyone else in your company uses it and you'll be asked to prepare a Gantt chart for them.

So what can you do if you don't want to abandon your great Ubuntu desktop?

The solution is to run in under the hood of Crossover (will only work with MS Project 2003 Pro).
But I ran into some trouble, so I'll explain the solution here.

It is still recommendable to use any of the
open source applications which I mention here!

Install instructions

1. Install Crossover of course. Do it with your normal user account, the recommended way.
2. Install MS Project 2003 Pro from Crossover's internal installer, inside a win2000 bottle.
   
   • After being installed you can already run Project, but it will complain all the time that you have to add gbui://mainpage.htm to your trusted sites inside of Internet Explorer.
3. So we have no other choice as to install IExplorer always.
   
   • Make sure you select the same win2000 bottle as the one of Project, otherwise your settings will not been seen by Project.
   • Crossover will tell you that it is a bad idea and that it will most likely fail, but nevertheless go on and ignore the warning at the end.

Configuration

Now we have to add the mentioned page to your trusted sites list.

1. Launch Crossovers Configuration application.
2. Manage Bottles tab.
3. Select the win2000 bottle and push Configure.
4. Enter the Control Panel tab.
5. Push the icon for Internet Options.
6. Go to Security --- Trusted sites -- Sites... and enter gbui://mainpage.htm
   
   • You'll have to disable Require server verification first.

That's it, leave and apply the settings and from now on, MS Project 2003 will work like a charm.

Gantt Charting

A Gantt chart is a popular type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project.

I don't like Gantt charts much, which you'll understand if you work with Agile Development methodologies like SCRUM.
But these kind of diagrams are still heavily used in lots of projects, so sooner or later you'll need a program to handle them.

Windows

There's the mother of all: MS Project.
What should I say, as many of MS Office programs, its heavy, slow, and error-phrone. And it's not free and doesn't run on Linux.

Ubuntu

For Ubuntu there are several free applications available, and some of them can handle MS Project files, which is very important if your boss only handles this program.

Read my special article about this kind of applications, their dis-/advantages, special installation instructions aso.