Lubuntu 24.04 and Android 15

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Ubuntu (Linux) 24.04 - I was informed that 20.04 long term support was ending shortly. Time to update - skip 22.04, go to 24.04.

You can't skip 22.04 - update to 22.04 then then update to 24.04. The update to 22.04 went well.

The update to 24.04 failed miserably. Linux installs work great - until they don't work - then you are screwed. I resorted to installing from a 24.04 ISO disk image install. At this point I decided to switch to Lubuntu. This is just Ubuntu with the LXQt GUI. Then I went through a day of torture trying to figure out why I could install, but not boot to my disk.

I finally realized that my disk was partitioned as MBR (Master Boot Record) for booting directly and the install wanted GPT (GUID Partition Table) for booting to UEFI which, I think, lets you boot to a USB drive without choosing it in the computer BIOS. But changing the partition type wipes the disk, which I was avoiding. But I need to have a working computer so I did it. I still couldn't get this working. So back to MBR and I figured out how to make it bootable. Too late to save my disk. With my disk wiped, I had to install a bunch of software and of course restore my personal files. That went reasonably well, except that when I backed up the disk before the update, I didn't think to backup hidden directories. My SSH certificate that let me log on to my web page was gone. Fortunately I had put that directory on my laptop.

So, finally up and running. But some of the software that I need wasn't working. These are the down level programs that I had to get to make v24.04 work as well as 20.04

Okular has replaced Evince (also know as Document Viewer). Okular produces absolute garbage prints of PDFs to my PostScript printer. Evince still works well.

A new EasyABC (music editing app) runs on Python 3 (Yay!). But it has again been disabled by Python changes. I had to get down level Python 3.9.

Newer versions of abcm2ps (this formats ABC format tunes into sheet music) do not produce correctly scaled sheet music. There is a replacement program written in JavaScript using abcm2ps as a starting point. But if the latest amcm2ps doesn't work right, why would I spend the time to switch. I got down level abcm2ps 8.14.6. Back in business.

Ghostview, a GUI interface to GhostScript (PostScript emulator) is obsolete. But it still works. But you need down level GhostScript 9.52. I'm not sure why they needed to update Ghostscript - Postscript hasn't changed in many years (to my knowledge).

I could rag on Linux for depending on libraries downloaded independently from applications. But even worse is new programs that don't work as well as the old programs that they are replacing. Okular PDF prints to my Postscript printer are just plain wrong. Abcm2ps was updated and lost scaling functions that I was using. Ghostview (GUI for Ghostscript) supports has been dropped and it does not work with new versions of Ghostscript.

Of course this is common on Windows and Android. I have no experience with Apple.

I wrote a Windows/Wine version of my text editor in 2007. I have fixed a few bugs and added a bit of function over the years but no other changes. I still use it for almost all of my text editing, under Wine in Linux, 18 years later.

Android 15

While Linux makes it hard to keep using old software, Android makes it impossible to use anything more than a few years old. How? By changing the API (application programming interface), redacting old API function, and constantly changing the requirements to be listed in the app store.

Android 15 on a Samsung S23 - Good Lock / Lockstar ruined - app widgets are no longer allowed on the AOD (always on display). I recently modified my clock app to display (optionally) only time zone and next alarm. I used this with Lockstar to display it on the AOD. This fixed one of my major issues with Samsung's Android. No more. Back up to Android 14? Only by resetting the phone and losing the entire setup and data on it.

For Android Firefox and I Heart Radio I have block notifications set. But they both manage to display annoying notifications.

If I turn the phone off, the display blanks and then displays the AOD. What's that for? Apparently, I often turned off the phone and then checked the time. Now I turn off the phone and have to wait for it to display the time.

New battery recharge modes: charges to 100% then stop until it's down to 95%; stops charging at 80% while you are asleep and switches to 100%/95% mode while you are awake; stops charging at 80% (or 85%, 90%, 95%). Why not charge to 80% then stop until it's down to 75% and similarly for 85%, 90%, 95%? This is important because I will often take my charged phone off the wireless charging stand, use it for a short time and put it back on the stand. Wouldn't it be better to not charge until it has dropped significantly? I don't know.

So what's new and improved in Android 15? The status line battery display is easier read. I use Nova Launcher, not One UI, so nothing there. I can't find anything else.