Hello, I am using Ubuntu 11.04 and on a couple of occasions was fooled into upgrading to 11.10 but found the interface horrible. I was left with an unwieldy panel on the left of the screen without any option to revert back to classic gnome. So I found myself having to reinstall 11.04.

Now upgrade manager is showing me this message.

"The update information is outdated. This may be caused by network problems or by a repository that is no longer available. Please update manually by clicking on this icon and then selecting 'check for updates' and check if some of the listed repositories fail."

How do I make this message go away. Alternatively, if 11.10 now allows the same look and feel and stability as 11.04 I would be willing to go with the upgrade. But only after hearing some positive feedback from experienced users.

Many thanks in advance.

You can make the message go away by clicking the check for updates button or executing the following terminal command:

11.04 will be fully supported through October 2012, so you have a few months left to find a new distro with an interface that you like.

I don't want necessarily to drop Ubuntu. So are you saying the developers have not catered for the classic gnome in the later versions.?
If not, that would be a great shame.

Incidentally, I hope there is a distinct difference between update and upgrade. I do want the system to keep updating patches and software updates. Just not upgrade the whole system to 11.10. Can you confirm this distinction?

This is probably the #1 most frequently asked question on the Ubuntu Forums since 2011. (I'm not exaggerating.)

Here is one of many discussions on the topic to help you get started: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1873765

To answer your second question, "sudo apt-get update" will not make ANY changes to your system. All it does is refresh your list of available updates. You still must download and apply these updates using the Update Manager or the terminal command:

If you haven't dist-upgraded your system in some time, then you haven't been getting any security patches or bug fixes, and your system may be unstable/vulnerable.

Ubuntu will not upgrade to 11.10 without asking you. However if you are looking for a newer Ubuntu, my advice is a fresh reinstall of 12.04, since it is a "long term support" release. Take a look at Xubuntu 12.04, you may find that the Xfce desktop is a comfortable and familiar alternative to Gnome 2.

Thanks for the reply. I will look into it as soon as a get some time. Regarding the updates. I thought the gnome update manager is updating the patches already without having to run it from the terminal. Its been updating on a very regular basis. Is that not the same thing?

Correct, the Update Manager is simply a graphical front end to commands you can also run from the Terminal.

However your post #1 indicated you were having an error message in Update manager? If so, running the terminal commands will provide more detailed output that may help you solve the problem.

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I see what you mean. Thanks!

Are you using version 12.04. If so, your feedback would be appreciated.

I use Ubuntu 12.04 sometimes (once or twice a month, not daily) and like the new Unity interface very much. However, you are not forced to use it; Ubuntu also supports Gnome, KDE, LXDE, Xfce, Openbox, Fluxbox, Enlightenment, Ratpoison, and probably a few others I am forgetting.

OK thanks. I give the upgrade another try some time soon. What is your primary OS?

Mac OS X

OMG. But then that's also Linux based.

Thanks

please ignore