Getting a newer version of init-system-helper than 1.14 in Mint17.3?
 

Good morning there,

I'd like to give zerotier-one so I can access my computers at home or simply do LAN games with my friends.

Unfortunetly trying to install the software from the PPA results in getting the feedback that init-system-helper version 1.18 is required while only 1.14 is avaiable.
You know, the conflict message apt-get outputs when installing certain packages.

So my question is, can I somehow upgrade said package so I can also run zerotier-one?


Kind regards
WaterCatapult

Hi WaterCatapult,

I see other people on the web have faced the problem without evident resolution. To be honest, I would be loathe to upgrade init-system-helpers (note the final "s") if Mint 17.3 (and Ubuntu 14.04 on which it is based) have fixed the version at 1.14. You don't really want to be messing around with the versions of "important" software like that.

Two suggestions (neither of which solves the problem as you would wish it): (i) Upgrade to Linux Mint 18.1 (for which init-system-helpers currently stands at 1.29); (ii) contact Zerotier and describe the problem to them - they might be able to offer a suitable solution.

Upgrading to Mint18.1 is something that scares me to be honest.
Not that it's all that complicated but I read about a lot of critics towards the 18.x release because a lot of things seem broken and tend to crash a lot.
Is this something you can confirm or did they fix most problems with Serena?

Contacting Zerotier sounds like something I should definitely take to account.

18.1 works like a charm for me and I've not had any problems with it (and didn't have with 18 either). I have to admit that I haven't heard much criticism, only the normal comments that you would get when the betas are out for testing. What sorts of problems have you heard about, and which desktop environment are you using?

I'm using KDE myself.
The development for said version already took longer than for the other releases and users mentioned crashing core applications or non function widgets.

That aside I'd prefer to simply do a Debian style 'dist-upgrade' instead of reinstalling everything but under these circumstances I rather stay with the old release. :o

There is, as far as I remember, no upgrade path from Mint 17.3 KDE to 18 KDE (as well as the move to systemd, there was the mammoth jump from KDE4 to Plasma 5). It was one of the many factors that persuaded me to move to 18 MATE. I can see your reticence given how solid Mint 17.3 KDE is (I loved it), but you might think of setting aside a small partition on your hard disk, installing Mint 18.1 KDE, which will be out very soon, and seeing how it goes. If you like it, you can start adding in some of your software at your own pace. It may seem a bother, but you've already found out why it's best to try and stay reasonably up-to-date. As it is, Mint is conservatively based on Ubuntu which is in itself a snapshot of Debian, so we Mint users are a bit "behind the curve" anyway (the price of stability) - it's not a great idea to drop too far behind if you're going to be installing software that appears to take a cutting-edge view to the environments its supports.

In my opinion of course. Let us know how you get on with Zerotier!