Patrick Wiseman writes:
Hello, fellow Debian users:
I've had Debian on my computers for a very long time (can't remember
exactly when but early 2000's for sure); and I've had Lenovo laptops
for ages too. I finally need to replace my main laptop (an at least
10-year old ThinkPad), so I've bought an X1 from Lenovo, with Ubuntu
pre-installed (to be delivered in January).
So, a question. Should I side-grade to Debian (and, if so, how easy
would it be to do that?)? Or will I be happy with Ubuntu (which is,
after all, a Debian derivative)?
What is a side-grade in this context? I'd strongly advise against trying
to replace the APT sources with Debian's and then trying to switch with an
`apt-get dist-upgrade`. Instead, I'd suggest the following course of
action:
* Create an image backup of the installed Ubuntu such that it is restorable
in case of warranty or hardware compatibility issues that may surface
later. If you do this from a Debian Live system you can also get a first
impression about how well Debian runs on the new hardware.
* Install Debian stable replacing the existing Ubuntu.
If it works fine, stop there. If not, try backports or even Testing to
see if it is an issue regarding hardware being too new :)
* If all fails, the image allows reverting to Ubuntu easily enough.