When working with an old versions of Ubuntu (11.04, 10.04, etc.), the biggest handicap is the lack of a functional package manager such as apt or synaptic. The reason why the package managers stop working is that at end of support/ licence for an old version of Ubuntu, the team behind Ubuntu archive the repositories.
At this point as an user you are supposed to Upgrade (the recommended practice) to a more recent version. There are normally enough advance notices and alerts sent out by Ubuntu's Update Manager for the same. If however, you have a compelling reason to stick on to your current version, then here's a way to update your repositories' sources list to be able to install and use old software that is present in the archival repository. This is based on the recommendation made on this forum discussion.
At this point as an user you are supposed to Upgrade (the recommended practice) to a more recent version. There are normally enough advance notices and alerts sent out by Ubuntu's Update Manager for the same. If however, you have a compelling reason to stick on to your current version, then here's a way to update your repositories' sources list to be able to install and use old software that is present in the archival repository. This is based on the recommendation made on this forum discussion.
