On Mon, 29 Sep 2014 11:45:13 -0400
Stephen Allen <marathon.durandal@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sun, Sep 28, 2014 at 11:29:22AM -0400, Steve Litt wrote:
On Sun, 28 Sep 2014 23:50:45 +1300
Chris Bannister <cbannister@slingshot.co.nz> wrote:
On Sat, Sep 27, 2014 at 09:49:10PM -0400, Steve Litt wrote:
On Sat, 27 Sep 2014 18:32:38 -0400
Yes. I'm a huge believer in wiping and reinstalling major
versions. It's like spring cleaning, and I eliminate ghosts of
operating systems past.
And then there's the rest of us who run Debian precisely because
you don't have to reinstall. It's great because you only ever
need to install once.
Hi Chris,
I assume that implicit in your reply is that such a major version
upgrade works well, and that over the years you don't get all sorts
of accumulated software dust bunnies doing funny things to you.
How many others here have experiences like Chris'? My opinions are
based on Windows, Mandrake and Mandriva. By the time I got to
Ubuntu in 2007 (and Debian in 2013), I was solidly in the habit of
reinstalls and never tried a major version upgrade on Ubuntu or
Debian.
I just advised another poster to reinstall from scratch, so perhaps
it would be good to see how many succeeded, and how many failed, by
upgrading past major versions.
Thanks,
SteveT
I've one box that I've upgraded from Potato. My newer servers have
been upgraded in place. No fresh installs - that's why I use Debian on
servers. Quite frankly if you're used to Mandrake/Mandriva then you're
excused I suppose for thinking one should do a clean install - that
distro was never very solid, and they usually released each 6 months
or so.
I hereby downgrade my advice of fresh-installing, from essential advice,
to a Steve Litt quirk. At least eight people on this list have had great
success upgrading through multiple major versions. My habit to fresh
install major versions was developed while using DOS, Win9x, and
Mandrake/Mandriva, and it made a lot of sense in all three of those.
But not in Debian.
Me, I'm personally going to continue fresh installing, because I enjoy
the spring-cleaning aspect of it, and the fact that I'm starting my
new version from a known state. But I'm now aware this is a Steve Litt
quirk, not solid advice for the masses. Thanks to everyone for the info.