Subj : GIMP Up To : Ky Moffet From : Barry Martin Date : Wed Sep 03 2025 07:12:00 Hi Ky! > > So this suggestion is now too late but at the time you could have used > > the apt-hold option to retain a set of files: > > sudo apt-mark hold > > sudo apt-mark hold > > This will also cause an error to be seen later when the system tries to > > upgrade these files; just ignore. > KM> Having done this in the past... there came a point where I had to > KM> unhold it, because it also held some dependency that the rest of > KM> the system could not live without and had to be updated. So I had > KM> to wave goodbye to the former hold. > KM> I have concluded, from this and other painful moments, that > KM> nothing should be held if you can possibly avoid it. > Makes sense. One possibility that came to mind would be to save the > hold files somewhere, allow the updating, then restore. ...I'd probably > compare the two version groups to see which one(s) the system really > needed. ...The more I type that the more it sound like a heck of a lot > of work that is going to result in a broken system. KM> That's exactly what would happen. KM> Now, something I have gotten away with -- for a while our repo KM> didn't have SeaMonkey in it. I downloaded the RPM, but couldn't KM> figure out how to install it, and in any case it is generally BAD KM> JUJU to install programs from outside your distro's repository. KM> (Things are compiled for YOUR distro, not for the whole world, KM> and often DO NOT WORK with other distros.) The old "interchangeable parts won't" thing. On the surface looks the same, but underneath.... KM> Naturally, something psuedo-installed like this does not update, KM> since the OS doesn't know it's there. SeaMonkey needs updates KM> very rarely, there's really only been one major update in the KM> past decade, otherwise it probably would have died early and KM> often. Right: if the OS is unaware of the utility (in this instance SeaMonkey) nothing to tell it to check for updates. So the good news is gets left alone and continues to run, though eventually it gets detected or som e update changes what allowed (SeaMonkey) to run and bye-bye. ....I understand the concept, just haven't a clue on the details. I like Virtual Machines to test out: to see if I like it and to see if it works. My knowledge of what to do to 'bend the utility to fit' just isn't there. KM> I would guess as seldom as GIMP majorly-updates, it might get KM> away with this too. Possible -- for you worth trying. For me I'd probably go the Virtual Machine route, using an older OS. Of course that brings its own problems: any peripherals have to be first recognized by the host system to be passed through to the VM. > Maybe just a dedicated system (virtual machine?), isolated from the > outside world? KM> That's actually what you have to do, yes, to make it reliable and KM> not bork your system. And if it's just going to run GIMP, for KM> your VM use a minimal distro like an old version of Puppy, which KM> doesn't need much RAM or CPU, but can perfectly well run last KM> year's GIMP. Or one of the DebianDogs (I particularly liked KM> MintPup, with JWM as the desktop, tho it is sadly discontinued). KM> https://puppylinux-woof-ce.github.io/ KM> https://debiandog.github.io/doglinux/index.html KM> https://github.com/DebianDog/MintPup-Trusty KM> Or even Fatdog, which comes with GIMP preinstalled. KM> https://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/web/ If it's the right version of GIMP that would be the one I'd be going for! Some of the OSs don't have the necessary components installed to make the desired utility (here, GIMP) to install or run, so back to Square One. ¯ ® ¯ BarryMartin3@MyMetronet.NET ® ¯ ® .... Listen to the roar of the crowd: "We are all individuals!". --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com (454:1/1) .