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View Full Version : Why did you upgrade?



Scott Baker
December 29th, 2011, 09:13 PM
I've been reading various posts in the last couple of weeks regarding upgrading and the dreaded Unity. I see lots of complaints about stuff not working anymore, stuff having to be replaced, settings having to be adjusted, etc. What amazes me though are the number of people that have said that EVERYTHING WORKED FINE UNTIL THE UPGRADE!! As a technician, I don't normally recommend upgrades until it's ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY! This will normally include broken (beyond saving or repair) components or a dead comp. So here is my question to upgraders everywhere. WHY DID YOU UPGRADE?? Was it some new piece of software that was going to change your life? Do you have lemming-like tendancies and feel it was the right thing to do. Did the voices in your head scream "just do it". How about sharing some of your reasons folks. For me, 11.04 offered two things. Better/easier set-up of my N wireless goodies, and the option to switch back and forth between Unity and classic desktops, until I'm comfortable with Unity. [-o< (P.S. As of this date 11.10 is available, but I'm not considering upgrading yet, because everything I normally use, works)

LowSky
December 29th, 2011, 09:44 PM
People like new. Most users here are not 100 people organizations, they are nerds with a laptop or desktop. Some buy the newest parts as soon as they are released, some scrap to old stuff to run web servers. Others just want a 10 year old PC to still run. Most want shiny and new because it promises better performance or new shiny interfaces. If the new install goes bad, just dust off an older copy and install that.

The linux environment pushes upgrades. Look through the forums, users urge upgrades on one another, using statements like the newer version might fix that glitch.

Part of the reason I choose not to run Ubuntu is the upgrade cycle. So many things upgrade at one time you don't always see what goes wrong. I moved to Arch because a rolling release gives the user the opportunity to know what a simple version upgrade to one package can do.

Old_Grey_Wolf
December 29th, 2011, 10:19 PM
{a wall of small font}

Thank you for changing the font. I have been ignoring your posts because they were hard to read. :)

For distros that are not rolling releases; such as, Ubuntu I only upgrade when support runs out or it hits a convenient upgrade cycle. For Ubuntu that has been every 2 years. With the introduction of 12.04's 5 year cycle I may wait 4 years before upgrading. If I need something that has newer applications, I use a rolling release distro.

lisati
December 29th, 2011, 10:25 PM
Thank you for changing the font. I have been ignoring your posts because they were hard to read. :)

The changes were made by forum staff for just that reason: the choice of font can be hard to read and/or annoying.

arpanaut
December 29th, 2011, 10:29 PM
Simple, Because It's There; Because I Can!

Same answer I gave people when they asked why I climbed 14,000 ft. Peaks back, when I lived in Colorado.
But I always had a plan, always was well equipped, had a back up plan, and always had a good map.
(A good climbing partner always came in handy too.)

I generally don't upgrade my main everyday runner, but fresh install. I do do testing of Ubuntu +1 every cycle since about 3 years ago and usually have 6-8 different installs going on my testing rig. I have an old Lucid install that I'm just waiting to watch the carnage that ensues from going from Gnome 2 to Gnome 3... LOL should be interesting.

But again, I have a plan, I have all important data backed up on separate drives, and I have a good understanding of how Grub works, so by the time I am inspired to move my main install to a newer version I know what to expect and what the pitfalls of the new release are due to having tested it the past six months.

But mostly... Because It's There; Because I Can!
I took a leap of faith when I installed Warty Warthog. Was pleasantly surprised!
I continue to take that leap, and still enjoy the surprises.

P,S. I'm an Oldfart with too much time on my hands.

sanderd17
December 29th, 2011, 10:32 PM
When I was using ubuntu (or one of the derivates), I wanted to upgrade to get new and shiny things. But most upgrades broke vital things.

Since I'm using Arch, I upgrade all my software once a week, and I get a small bunch of new features. Some new features might break some things (only happened once in 8 months until now), but because there aren't a lot of new things, so the problem is always easy to locate.

Old_Grey_Wolf
December 29th, 2011, 10:52 PM
The changes were made by forum staff for just that reason: the choice of font can be hard to read and/or annoying.

OK. I didn't notice who changed the font. Thank you oldos2er. :)

hhh
December 30th, 2011, 02:54 AM
...I'm not considering upgrading yet, because everything I normally use, works...
OT, welcome to Debian stable.

3rdalbum
December 30th, 2011, 08:32 AM
People like new.

Correction: They *think* they like new. So they upgrade to get the new thing. Then they hate it because it's different to the old one.

I've been a member on these forums for six years, I know the comments at every new version of Ubuntu.

The people who REALLY like the new stuff, don't upgrade at release time. They upgrade at alpha or beta and report bugs so they can be fixed before release.

wolfen69
December 30th, 2011, 08:33 AM
I upgrade my computer equipment fairly often, and older releases usually don't fair so well on new(ish) stuff. Plus, I just like new things. I am not a corporation or institution, so to take 90min out of my life every 6 months to reinstall, is no big deal.

sanderd17
December 30th, 2011, 09:33 AM
Correction: They *think* they like new. So they upgrade to get the new thing. Then they hate it because it's different to the old one.

I've been a member on these forums for six years, I know the comments at every new version of Ubuntu.

The people who REALLY like the new stuff, don't upgrade at release time. They upgrade at alpha or beta and report bugs so they can be fixed before release.

Where is the +1 button? That's a great comment.

Linuxratty
December 30th, 2011, 06:04 PM
I upgrade or move to a different distro when support runs out or if the distro I'm running turns out to be such a lemon I can't stand it.

Scott Baker
January 10th, 2012, 04:45 PM
Morning all. First I want everyone to know I promise to play nice and not mess with the fonts anymore. Next, I appreciate the feedback. It's quite interesting to see what drives users to upgrade ( or even change ) their operating systems. Anyone else want to share? So far the feedback has been very interesting. :popcorn:

ubiquitin.jf
January 10th, 2012, 05:40 PM
Because if I wanted a truly stable and productive system I'd run Debian.

BrokenKingpin
January 11th, 2012, 05:40 PM
So I can get the latest versions of the programs I use. I have considered going to a rolling release for this reason... maybe Debian Testing.

grahammechanical
January 11th, 2012, 08:43 PM
Yep, this is me:


The people who REALLY like the new stuff, don't upgrade at release time. They upgrade at alpha or beta and report bugs so they can be fixed before releas

It is not that I like new stuff but that I like the improvements to the look of the desktop that have come with each release.

I test each release in its own partition to find out if I can set things up the way I want to before I upgrade my main system. I started testing alpha releases with 11.10 in order to get a head start on all those who would upgrade and then complain, I can't do this, and where has that gone?

Regards.

IWantFroyo
January 12th, 2012, 01:09 AM
Think about this: if people didn't want to upgrade (ie didn't want new software), Ubuntu probably wouldn't exist, along with many innovations such as the wheel and sliced bread.

People want new stuff. That's pretty much it.

hsretry
January 12th, 2012, 10:13 AM
Hi All !

I upgraded because I had an option to. Then something went wrong and I didn't like the result :confused:

Tried a few other desktop environments a little tweaks to the existing and then I had an unholy mess of redundant applications, messed up GUIs -- clutter to sum it up.

Fed up with it, I backed up all my data and wiped the laptop clean to go back to 10.04. Loving it here and have no problems. My usage is limited to browsing, editing images, music/movies and the odd bit of programming/scripting.

Cheers ! :guitar:

satanselbow
January 12th, 2012, 10:43 AM
Some people have to have the latest trainers, some the latest smartphone. Some times it's irrational, sometimes it's disappointing :( Mostly it's sport :D

I always keep 30GB unpartitioned freespace (if I partitioned it in advance i'd fill it with data) and run the latest and greatest in there as a test install. If I like it and it brings something to the game it might get a clean install as my main OS (most recently / currently LM12).

Those that blindly upgrade are asking for a world of pain - and that applies equally to Linux, Win and Mac.

The only other point really is that Linux development (both kernel and app wise currently) is steaming ahead much quicker than Windows so a "small upgrade" can make a big difference on many machines ;)

The last big Windows update (W7 SP1) patched holes - the last big linux update bought a new kernel (v3), gui (Unity / Gnome3/Shell), massively improved hardware support across the board etc etc ;)

hsretry
January 13th, 2012, 03:25 AM
Some people have to have the latest trainers, some the latest smartphone. Some times it's irrational, sometimes it's disappointing :( Mostly it's sport :D





Those that blindly upgrade are asking for a world of pain - and that applies equally to Linux, Win and Mac.



Exactly .. my upgrades were for sport.

Ooh -- upgrade. Click -- :confused:

I'm wiser now and plan to try these 'sports' on a separate partition as you've pointed out :popcorn:

Desert Sailor
January 13th, 2012, 04:33 AM
I generally upgrade because it is my sick and demented way of frustrating all the productivity gains by having a working computer. I find that when I upgrade I can spend a day or sometimes much longer just fussing with my computer instead of doing real work. So all the productivity gains I would have had are flushed down the upgrade toilet.

Rage against the man!

flyfishingphil
January 16th, 2012, 06:58 PM
Made some changes to 11.04 and had numerous problems. Easiest way to correct the situation was to re-install but figured as long as I was doing that I might as well update to 11.10.

Few minor adjustments and glad I did. As in the past I have found each "upgrade" has been exactly that, an upgrade in just about everything relating to the OS and programs used in it.

Looking forward to the 12.10 version but, as usual, will probably watch the forum for a few weeks before taking the big step.