LTS vs. New Release

[Fancycakes]

I am wondering, what are the merits of staying with an LTS release versus the renewal of the system by upgrading to a new release? Certainly, staying with an LTS release isn't going to be more or less dangerous than upgrading to a new release that specifically addresses security issues.

With Lucid Lynx coming up this spring, should I try sticking it out until the LTS after Lynx, or keep upgrading regularly?

[lykwydchykyn]

The bottom line is, if you and your hardware are happy with Lucid for two years, then there's no reason to upgrade.

Bear in mind, Lucid will get ONLY bugfixes and security fixes after release, so you will not get e.g. the new version of Firefox/openoffice/whatever app that comes out after release.

[bcn17]

Generally LTS is more stable and has less new features. However, newer versions are more likely to be compatible with a larger range of hardware.

I would recommend always installing the new release unless you have a reason to install the LTS. And you will know if you have a reason. ;)

If you are just thinking about an upgrade then try it if you like. However, if you have gone through the trouble to configure anything special then there is a very good chance it will break those programs. For instance a pen/mouse pad or even third party repositories.

Its also probably a good idea to back your important stuff up if do an upgrade. Personally, I like to just do a fresh install. Feels "cleaner." But maybe I'm just crazy!

GL

[last1]

The merits of an LTS release depend entirely on how much you value stability over new features.

[Fancycakes]

Generally LTS is more stable and has less new features. However, newer versions are more likely to be compatible with a larger range of hardware.

I would recommend always installing the new release unless you have a reason to install the LTS. And you will know if you have a reason. ;)

If you are just thinking about an upgrade then try it if you like. However, if you have gone through the trouble to configure anything special then there is a very good chance it will break those programs. For instance a pen/mouse pad or even third party repositories.

Its also probably a good idea to back your important stuff up if do an upgrade. Personally, I like to just do a fresh install. Feels "cleaner." But maybe I'm just crazy!

GL

I don't use too much fancy stuff on my laptop, but now you've made me worried that when I upgrade to Lynx this spring something will invariably break simply because it's LTS.

(btw, I'm happy people replied to this thread so fast. It's awesome that so many people are trolling places other than *chan this snowy night).

[Sef]

Bear in mind, Lucid will get ONLY bugfixes and security fixes after release, so you will not get e.g. the new version of Firefox/openoffice/whatever app that comes out after release.You can enable backports to get updated versions of apps. (System > Administration > Software Sources > Updates > tic 'Unsupported updates'.

[lykwydchykyn]

You can enable backports to get updated versions of apps. (System > Administration > Software Sources > Updates > tic 'Unsupported updates'.

In theory.

In reality, the selection offered by backports is quite slim, and still far behind the non-LTS releases.

Here's a complete list of packages in Hardy backports:

http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy-backports/allpackages

[lykwydchykyn]

I don't use too much fancy stuff on my laptop, but now you've made me worried that when I upgrade to Lynx this spring something will invariably break simply because it's LTS.

(btw, I'm happy people replied to this thread so fast. It's awesome that so many people are trolling places other than *chan this snowy night).

Nothing should "break" the system, though upgrades can always have their issues. Most users will be upgrading to Lucid when it comes out whether or not they stick to LTS releases, because it's still an upgrade from Karmic.

The sticky question comes up when 10.10 is released in October. Really, that's the point when you have to answer this question, because then you're looking at the new features and program versions that you won't be getting by sticking with LTS.

[Fancycakes]

All right. Thanks you guys, this has really given me food for thought.

[FunkeyMonk]

As an anecdote:
Hardy Heron (LTS) ran great on my Toshiba Satellite Laptop.
So did Intrepid Ibex and Jaunty Jackalope

Karmic Koala NEVER worked -- hardware failures, crashes, video driver problems, networks errors, etc.

But Lucid Lynx works wonderfully! Everything's zippier, cleaner, and better. Just goes to show that you may have problems with one version but not another. So far, I couldn't be happier with Lucid.

Ever since my problems with Koala, I now keep a separate partition on my laptop's hard drive. Whenever a new distribution (Like 10.10) comes out, I'll install it on that extra partition first to try it out. If it's OK, I'll upgrade my main system partition.