up2date hanging

[Paul Kloves]

As much as I like the idea of up2date, it has performed so poorly and
hangs so frequently that I simply had to switch to an alternative.  I
use www.freshrpms.net and apt (actually synaptic) to get all of my
updates.  I run the up2date icon to tell me when there are updates, then
use synaptic to download and install them.

The only pain with this setup is that I must update the package lists on
synaptic every time I use it (Actions/Update Package Entries).  I'm sure
there's a way to do this automatically, I just haven't done it yet...
*smack up side the head*  Oh yeah, I could run "apt-get update" via
cron.

To use it, 

- download the apt package from apt.freshrpms.net
- From root, install it: rpm -Ivh apt-*
- Update the package lists: apt-get update
- get synaptic: apt-get install synaptic

Then you just run synaptic as root.  The interface is really nice, and
it even has a nice "Upgradable" filter which will only show you the
packages that are upgradable.  New kernels do NOT show up in this list. 
You will have to select the "New in archive" filter.

Works well for me...
  -Paul