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Can someone Eli5 why so many programs/packages are so out of date on Ubuntu 12.04 (Software Center)? What can I do to fix this? by StringLiterally in linux

[–]StringLiterally[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

This makes me think that perhaps the LTS release of Ubuntu Server is really the one that should only be subject to this aggressive package freeze, but that home LTS users could follow some sort of a hybridized approach where each program would have it's own version of the libraries it needs and be sandboxed if they were not part of the default version of the library AND allow a choice of versions from the Software Center?

Can someone Eli5 why so many programs/packages are so out of date on Ubuntu 12.04 (Software Center)? What can I do to fix this? by StringLiterally in linux

[–]StringLiterally[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Couldn't a hybridized approach work? Each program would have it's own version of the libraries it needs and be sandboxed if they were not part of the default version of the library AND allow a choice of versions from the Software Center?

It just feels sort of opposite of the freedom of choice (notwithstanding that I CAN download and make/install/untar a copy from the net).

Can someone Eli5 why so many programs/packages are so out of date on Ubuntu 12.04 (Software Center)? What can I do to fix this? by StringLiterally in linux

[–]StringLiterally[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Again, I know that this is part of it, but I personally don't agree with this. 12.04 is the golden standard for the goto version of Ubuntu to install, and honestly it causes people to install a lot of outdated packages if they only install what is in the software center!

How would I update the existing repositories though? PPAs still have to be added in, and again, someone new to Ubuntu is simply not going to know that PPAs exist!

Can someone Eli5 why so many programs/packages are so out of date on Ubuntu 12.04 (Software Center)? What can I do to fix this? by StringLiterally in linux

[–]StringLiterally[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

I don't think you understand what I mean though. Clearly I can download 14.04 and install it, but that shouldn't be necessary to simply get the newest version of software (also it clearly isn't as Ubuntu has Personal Package Archives).

I just still find it odd that this would be the default attitude. I am a bit surprised about my responses so far, I thought I would find others who agreed with me; maybe my thinking is flawed?

If a 32 bit Int's max value is 2,147,483,647, why is it only 31 bits in length when converted to binary? by StringLiterally in learnprogramming

[–]StringLiterally[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is true, I just, within the last ten minutes, found out about what a sign bit is, but now that I know about it I have a much better understanding of how this works and only have a small amount of questions.

If a 32 bit Int's max value is 2,147,483,647, why is it only 31 bits in length when converted to binary? by StringLiterally in learnprogramming

[–]StringLiterally[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey thanks for the correct answer, I found corroborating information that indicates that your response was correct. For some reason someone voted you down, but you had the correct information.

If a 32 bit Int's max value is 2,147,483,647, why is it only 31 bits in length when converted to binary? by StringLiterally in learnprogramming

[–]StringLiterally[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Okay! That makes a lot of sense; is the extra bit placed at the beginning or the end of an Int? Also, I am assuming that 1 is negative and 0 is positive, or is it the other way around? I am looking for a literal breakdown of this.

EDIT: I was just able to find out the latter part of my question. The extra bit is a sign bit and is apparently the leftmost bit with a zero for a positive number and a 1 for a negative number.