About Ubuntu page fails to report Ubuntu release info

[Graham Cross]

Binary package hint: yelp

1. Release: Ubuntu 8.10
2. Package version: - Help 2.24.0
3. Clicking System -> About Ubuntu brings up the help page introducing Ubuntu, it should show version number and name
4. These fields that should display the version number and name are missing

Note that the following works:
root@Thermolinux:/home/graham# lsb_release -rd
#Description: Ubuntu 8.10
Release: 8.10
root@Thermolinux:/home/graham#

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 8.10
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/yelp
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: yelp 2.24.0-0ubuntu2
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
 LANG=en_IE.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: yelp
Uname: Linux 2.6.27-11-generic i686

[Hew (hew)]

Thanks for your report. I'm using Jaunty, and it correctly says:

"Thank you for your interest in Ubuntu 9.04 - the Jaunty Jackalope - released in April 2009."

When I last used Intrepid, it said a similar thing. Is this the case for you, or are these details really missing?

[Graham Cross (grahamcross)]

Thanks for the response. Please see screen shot attached which
demonstrates the problem.

- Graham Cross

On Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:16 +0000, "Hew McLachlan"
<email address hidden> wrote:
> Thanks for your report. I'm using Jaunty, and it correctly says:
>
> "Thank you for your interest in Ubuntu 9.04 - the Jaunty Jackalope -
> released in April 2009."
>
> When I last used Intrepid, it said a similar thing. Is this the case for
> you, or are these details really missing?
>
> ** Changed in: yelp (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
> --
> About Ubuntu page fails to report Ubuntu release info
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/329648
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in “yelp” source package in Ubuntu: Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: yelp
>
> 1. Release: Ubuntu 8.10
> 2. Package version: - Help 2.24.0
> 3. Clicking System -> About Ubuntu brings up the help page introducing
> Ubuntu, it should show version number and name
> 4. These fields that should display the version number and name are
> missing
>
> Note that the following works:
> root@Thermolinux:/home/graham# lsb_release -rd
> #Description: Ubuntu 8.10
> Release: 8.10
> root@Thermolinux:/home/graham#
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> Architecture: i386
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 8.10
> ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/yelp
> NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
> Package: yelp 2.24.0-0ubuntu2
> ProcEnviron:
> PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
> LANG=en_IE.UTF-8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> SourcePackage: yelp
> Uname: Linux 2.6.27-11-generic i686

[Hew (hew)]

Confirming based on the screenshot.

I notice you are using LANG=en_IE.UTF-8. Perhaps it's a translation issue.

[R. Drew Davis (drewclist)]

Info is missing on my Intrepid system too. Through no explicit action on my part, I have LANG=en_US.UTF-8. A semi-related problem: In that same about-Ubuntu window, if you click on the "about this document" item in the right column of the window, you get a blank window instead of information. And an additional challenge in trying to make this a good report, when I right clicked on the "about Ubuntu" item in the System menu, nothing was offered. I was hoping for "properties" to help me track down where this stuff is (or isn't) coming from. Is this from gnome-about???

Drew

[R. Drew Davis (drewclist)]

Here's a screenshot of the blank "about this document" panel.

Drew

[R. Drew Davis (drewclist)]

Re-reading the earlier info in this bug report taught me the package involved is "yelp". So, to see what would happen, I took a snapshot of what packages I have installed (sudo dpkg -l >installed) and then used Synaptic to uninstall yelp. Somewhat to my surprise, the uninstall also nuked ubuntu-desktop, ubuntu-doc and gnome-user-guide. Immediately after the uninstall, I reinstalled all 4 packages. sudo dpkg -l >installed-2; diff installed installed-2 showed the package list to be exactly as it was before. For the record:

drew@drew-laptop:~/dpkg$ grep yelp installed
ii yelp 2.24.0-0ubuntu2 Help browser for GNOME 2
drew@drew-laptop:~/dpkg$ grep ubuntu-doc installed
ii ubuntu-docs 8.10.2 The Ubuntu Documentation Project
drew@drew-laptop:~/dpkg$ grep ubuntu-desktop installed
ii ubuntu-desktop 1.124 The Ubuntu desktop system
drew@drew-laptop:~/dpkg$ grep gnome-user-guide installed
ii gnome-user-guide 2.24.0+svn20080922ubuntu2 GNOME user's guide

After the about steps, "about ubuntu" had disappeared from my "System" menu. So I rebooted and not only did the "about Ubuntu" menu item come back, but the missing info has materialized too. Some postinstall script that didn't run during the original installation? Looking back in my notes, this system started out with 8.04 (Hardy) and then I followed the instructions on http://www.ubuntugeek.com/upgrade-ubuntu-804-hardy-heron-server-to-ubuntu-810-intrepid-ibex.html to upgrade it to intrepid. Only other installation novelty I can think of on this system is its a WUBI install on top of Vista. Attached is the handsome and now correct looking release/version page.

Drew

[R. Drew Davis (drewclist)]

Attached is the handsome and now correct looking "about this document" page. So to summarize, I've described here a work-around for what apparently is an installation glitch. Use Synaptic (or probably any other apt/dpkg set of tools that you like) to remove and reinstall yelp, ubuntu-doc, ubuntu-desktop and gnome-user-guide, then reboot and the problem is solved. I wonder if there's a gentler solution like just reinstalling yelp or some such.

Drew

[Graham Cross (grahamcross)]

Dear Drew,

Many thanks for this, I'll give it a try tonight when I'm home.

Regards,
Graham Cross

On Sun, 15 Mar 2009 23:57 +0000, "R. Drew Davis" <email address hidden>
wrote:
> Attached is the handsome and now correct looking "about this document"
> page. So to summarize, I've described here a work-around for what
> apparently is an installation glitch. Use Synaptic (or probably any
> other apt/dpkg set of tools that you like) to remove and reinstall yelp,
> ubuntu-doc, ubuntu-desktop and gnome-user-guide, then reboot and the
> problem is solved. I wonder if there's a gentler solution like just
> reinstalling yelp or some such.
>
> Drew
>
> ** Attachment added: "Screenshot-Ubuntu - Linux for Human
> Beings!-good.png"
> http://launchpadlibrarian.net/23893675/Screenshot-Ubuntu%20-%20Linux%20for%20Human%20Beings%21-good.png
>
> --
> About Ubuntu page fails to report Ubuntu release info
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/329648
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in “yelp” source package in Ubuntu: Confirmed
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: yelp
>
> 1. Release: Ubuntu 8.10
> 2. Package version: - Help 2.24.0
> 3. Clicking System -> About Ubuntu brings up the help page introducing
> Ubuntu, it should show version number and name
> 4. These fields that should display the version number and name are
> missing
>
> Note that the following works:
> root@Thermolinux:/home/graham# lsb_release -rd
> #Description: Ubuntu 8.10
> Release: 8.10
> root@Thermolinux:/home/graham#
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> Architecture: i386
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 8.10
> ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/yelp
> NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
> Package: yelp 2.24.0-0ubuntu2
> ProcEnviron:
> PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
> LANG=en_IE.UTF-8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> SourcePackage: yelp
> Uname: Linux 2.6.27-11-generic i686

[positivek (anonyhole)]

I am not a developer, but I think this bug is a duplicate of bug 303578. Though that bug does not seem to mention the "About This Document" or "Version and Release Numbers" pages in Yelp.

Whoever addresses one of these bugs should coordinate with the others.

[Matthew East (mdke)]

Positivek - you're right, this is a duplicate bug.