HOWTO Check, Start and Stop Services
 

how does one check, start and stop services? i'm specifically interested in starting and stopping apache2 and postgresql8.

tia...

Try /etc/init.d/<service> status to check its status. (As root, of course.)

Edit: Where "<service>" means "The service name shown by ls /etc/init.d."

Other options are (usually) start, stop, and restart.

If you're using a GUI, there is (again, usually) a "Services" menu item you can use.

activate debian mirrors in synaptic

apt-get install rcconf as root in a terminal (or use synaptic)

(-that package is not included in mepis)

open terminal, su to root

type rcconf

--you get a text based interface that allows you to stop and start services

or if you prefer a GUI ksysv or bum will do the job quite nicely

right, but bum is not available on my system, the sysv prog in kde is a bit complex
--> rcconf is always available and debian's text mode proggies are very fast & effective

How to stop specific services
 

Hello;

I would also like to stop a few particular services so that I can do a dist-upgrade.

rcconf shows only one of the services I wish to stop (xdm) but there is no dot to the left of the service name which, as far as I understand, means it was not loaded at boot. The other service I wish to stop (xscreensaver) is not listed here at all.

Just so you know, I am attempting to upgrade my distribution of Debian but when updating libc...something, the installer says I need to stop the above mentioned services first.

What am I missing here? I'm rather new to Linux.

According to the Distributions mentioned in the OPs profile (U/K/X)buntu), it is not a good idea to activate the Debian repos in his synaptic. Debian and Ubuntu are not binary compatible, and according to the version the OP uses (6.10), the next update will do severe damage to his system.

cross over repos, comment
 

Yes, it goes without saying that Debian repos will not work for an upgrade in Ubuntu.
But it's perfectly safe to install a lot of applications from debian in Ubuntu and vice versa.

F.ex I install the gtk1 version of the Emelfm file manager from Ubuntu 8.04 in Debian where it is no longer available.

The repos must be deactivated after successful install in such a case of course.

Oh Boy, for KDE4 for the the GUI to start and start services, open System Settings >System Administration > Startup and Shutdown >Service Manager. Highlight the service and click on the stop button.
To restart the service, highlight it, click the start button, done.

What desktop are you using? And in most cases the Deb installers stop what services that need to be upgraded. You have Ubuntu listed as your distro. Which Deb are you trying
to upgrade?