I'm happy with the version I have. Why upgrade?

Sorry for the long post. Yeah, I hate long posts. :)

I am tired of reading the testimonials of people having problems when they upgrade to the latest release without testing it first.

I have been using Ubuntu since 6.10. It wasn't until 7.04 that I started using Ubuntu as my primary OS. Then at 7.10 it was the only OS I use on my own computers. The family computers are another discussion.

I have a desktop running a LAMP stack on 7.10 as a server. I have tested it with 8.10 by booting from a USB thumb drive. It worked; however, I don't plan on upgrading it until support for 7.10 ends in April 2009. It is working fine so I don't see that there is a need to upgrade right away.

My daughter got divorced, and moved back home along with her three children. I set up a desktop in the living room for everyone to use. The grandchildren use it to play games; therefore, it runs MS Windows as default. For my own convenience I installed Ubuntu 8.04 on it with WUBI. It works for everyone. So I don't see a need to upgrade. 8.04 is supported until 11.4 is released by-the-way.

I run 8.10 on my laptop. I tested it before upgrading from 8.04. The laptop is my test machine. That is the only reason it was upgraded. It is working fine. No problems. All hardware recognized. Easiest upgrade ever. Yeah, I know, your mileage may very.

On the MS Windows machines that I have been maintaining, I don't install the patches until I read reviews or try them myself. So, with Ubuntu I don't expect it to be any different. Edit: And I see a lot of MS Windows machines running very old versions of MS Office. So, getting the latest applications isn't necessarily the reason to upgrade.

I don't see the need to go to the latest release when it is available. If an older version works, and still gets security updates, I have no problem staying with an older version.

I guess there is just something wrong with me.

Old_Gray_Wolf said: I don't see the need to go to the latest release when it is available. If an older version works, and still gets security updates, I have no problem staying with an older version.

Bingo.... you are right... if it works for you and still receives security updates, no need to upgrade.

I agree completely

As long as it is getting security updates and isn't broken, why fix it :)

"My daughter got divorced, and moved back home along with her three children"

Why did you give them Windows? Was it because you didn't want them to upgrade either?

"For my own convenience I installed Ubuntu 8.04 on it with WUBI"

What is WUBI? This I think is another name grandchildren may want to call their grandpa. "WUBI's home, YEA!!!"

He said his grandchildren play games on it (probably windows only)

WUBI is an installer for putting ubuntu onto a windows partition to use within windows for a beginner to try out.

yes, don't upgrade' at least till the next LTS version !

if you are an experienced user and like to test' if you have little experience, be sure to check out the release notes for known issues and bugs.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2008-October/000116.html

We recommend that all users read the release notes, which document

caveats and workarounds for known issues. They are available at:

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/810

Well, there are upgrades such as quick search in synaptic, a new usb startup disk creator, tabs in nautilus, and the awesome new DarkRoom theme.

Talk about loyalty to a version, I just got home from upgrading Dapper to Hardy for a neighbor. (He's actually is a member here, and might read this post.)

He was so used to Dapper, that he really didn't want to upgrade, everything worked well for him, but he finally decided after long deliberations, that there were a few new bells and whistles that he wanted to try.

As others have said, there is no reason at all to upgrade a version you're happy with, as long as it's still supported.

As long as you know how to compile packages and get security updates, stick with the old one.

I'm with you 100% OGW!

Once you put a machine together and get it humming along perfectly, that's the time to stop ALL upgrades, because one upgrade leads to another and pretty soon, nothing works anymore! Especially in the DOZE! They upgrade to force you to buy new packages of EVERYTHING!

I'm new to Ubuntu and 8.04 is what I started with and since it's LTS I will stick with it until the next LTS edition comes out and is debugged to the point of being stable.

Like you I have other machines to test things on first, and I even put Edubuntu on one machine in order to help me learn how to set up a server and use it. I figured having one that worked out of the box would allow me to look back to see what they did, vs some hairbrained thing I tried that didn't work.

The only thing that irks me is that Manufacturers don't support their equipment with drivers for Linux. Some big names like HP don't even support versions of XP they installed in their own HP branded machines! That's SAD really SAD!

Even though this don't have anything to do with Ubuntu, but with third party driver writers for Linux, it really surprises me that some of the Top Selling hardware items have never been supported. And what drivers they do write are often missing a very important feature. I have a laser printer here that the Linux driver is much better than the OEM driver, except for one MAJOR ISSUE. It provides NO WAY to change out toner cartridges. You have to plug the printer into a Doze machine with the OEM driver to change the toner cartridge. Major OVERSIGHT on the part of those who wrote the driver for this printer!

TTUL Gary

I totally agree with the OP, I don't see a reason to upgrade, I just like upgrading ;)

I can't help it, I just like having the latest...that said, my server is running 8.04 and so is my old desktop :)

> Old_Gray_Wolf I guess there is just something wrong with me.

I don't believe there's anything wrong with you. Wisdom is something we spend our whole lives searching for. I think you may have found some.:-k

I will say that unless you are running an LTS version, getting help with problems can be a bit tricky if you don't use the latest Ubuntu.

This simply reflects the fact that the majority of users pick the latest release (almost as soon as it has been released as "stable"), so the advice for problems is often, "Have you tried upgrading?"

Gutsy was also the first version I felt was perfect for me, but I upgraded to 8.04.1 in order to reap the benefits of LTS, since I figured I would have to do that at some point. Additionally, I figured it would be best to discover issues with Hardy while it remained the latest release, thereby ensuring plenty of experienced users to help me sort my problems out. In fact, while I was happy with Gutsy, I am even happier with Hardy.

Having achieved this zen, I'm sticking with it until (or if) I invest in new hardware warranting reinstallation. I will, however jump ship with the 10.04.1 LTS release, just as I did with Gutsy.... Or sooner if I get bored (although I am now entertaining myself with alternative WM's). The only other reason I see for upgrading sooner is to ensure I remain useful on these forums (which may prove enough for me soon).

Sure that would be gret for you. I'm thinking that people are still using edgy and fesity Why upgrade if you like a old un-supported version

the most experienced would want to upgrade and assist, i guess that's what ugm6hr means ?

inobe said: the most experienced would want to upgrade and assist, i guess that's what ugm6hr means ?

I believe that is correct yes :)

That's one of the reasons I upgraded on my laptop...there were a few issues, though they were minor and have since been resolved, so I'm very happy with my Intrepid install :)

If it ain't broke.......

early adopters ARE the final testers, there are so many of them something overlooked will surely show.

I first tried 7.04 in the summer and everything just worked. but where it won't [my son the gamer and one with a DDS32 printer and intuit] XP still does.

I have 8.10 on a 866 P-III, on a mini 9 dual boot with the dell 8.04, on the family room media box [933 P-III], on a AMD 2GHZ 1GB mem dual boot with XP, and 8.04 on the wife's laptop dual boot with vista. one underpowered box works better with puppy and an old 380ED thinkpad 166MMX with 32 meg ram dual boots DSLinux with 98se. [98se mostly used with supplied dos software as a terminal to program the phone system.]

3 given away boxes 2 with 2ghz celerons dual boot 8.04 and win 2K, one 600 P-III with just 8.04

what ever works

Joeb454 said: I believe that is correct yes :)

Indeed.

Nevertheless, there are still enough new Hardy users here for me to remain useful with my "old" Ubuntu!

Old_Gray_Wolf said:

I have a desktop running a LAMP stack on 7.10 as a server. I have tested it with 8.10 by booting from a USB thumb drive. It worked; however, I don't plan on upgrading it until support for 7.10 ends in April 2009. It is working fine so I don't see that there is a need to upgrade right away

oh man, if only we could get this thru to the many, many people who think it is *mandatory* to upgrade very 6 months

Old_Gray_Wolf said:

I am tired of reading the testimonials of people having problems when they upgrade to the latest release without testing it first.

I think one of the things that happens is the update icon shows up in the panel, the updater says that there is a new version of Ubuntu and many folks just go ahead and install it. Then they are upset when things don't work out. Perhaps they think that since the upgrade shows up that all is well. This probably happens more often to folks that are new to Linux.

That said, to your point, the best way is to download the live CD, and then run the new version from the CD to check things out before installing. Some folks seem to think that Ubuntu is supposed to work on every conceivable computer configuration that exists, and if it doesn't then it sucks. Even though my laptop was purchased preloaded with 8.04, there was no guarantee that it was going to work with 8.10. Why? Because it certified to run 8.04 not 8.10. Fortunately 8.10 works just fine.

And there's nothing wrong with sticking with what works for as long as it's still supported. I dual boot 8.04/8.10. 8.10 will get replaced with Jaunty, but 8.04 will stay on my system until the next LTS. That way if something doesn't work in the latest release I can give feedback in launchpad, and at the same time have old reliable (8.04) to fall back on.

Darrell

Darrell Lawrence said: I dual boot 8.04/8.10. 8.10 will get replaced with Jaunty, but 8.04 will stay on my system until the next LTS. That way if something doesn't work in the latest release I can give feedback in launchpad, and at the same time have old reliable (8.04) to fall back on.

If I only had one computer that had to work all the time, I would probably go with that dual boot idea.

I have a spare laptop that I use for testing new versions of Ubuntu. I also use it to try new releases of other distros like Fedora and CentOS in VirtualBox. I am growing fond of the laptop.