Saturday, June 25, 2011

Fix the apt-xapian-index error in Ubuntu

Some people complain that using Ubuntu or Linux in general involves too much "messing around."  To be sure, it helps to have some command line knowledge, know how to move through the file system, and how to use vim or nano to edit a file in sudo mode.

I don't run Windows at all.  Haven't since ... 2006?  But inevitably I end up trying to help someone with their Windows laptop.  Compared to tweaking something on Linux, it is a painful experience.  The entire setup works against you having any real control over your operating system (probably because it isn't YOUR operating system--you're just renting it).

Anyway, use Linux long enough and you may develop a keen sixth sense between you and your computer.  Warning signals started going off a day or two ago and I traced it down to a common problem: the apt-xapian-index file is hogging the processor at times, while rebuilds it's entire index.  Now, I had no clue about any of this before this morning, but the Ubuntu Forums, as usual, got me right to a simple fix.

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