If you've ever downloaded from getdeb.net, read this

[Vadi]

Posted on: http://blog.getdeb.net/2008/10/get-ready-for-tomorrow.html

It is with great pleasure that we inform you that a new Ubuntu Linux version will be available tomorrow. Ubuntu 8.10 brings hardware support improvements, new features and problem fixes.
Please note that upgrading your system with getdeb packages installed is not supported by Ubuntu and is strongly discouraged by the GetDeb team.

In order to perform a smooth upgrade please make sure you remove all getdeb packages BEFORE starting the upgrade, you can use the following procedure:
http://www.getdeb.net/docs/uninstall.pdf

If you need upgrade instructions read http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/upgrading

After upgrading do not forget to change to the selected version:
http://www.getdeb.net/distro_select.php .

If you have decided to keep with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS please note that we have recently decided to keep limited support for this release for the next 6 months, this means we will still be publishing updates but with a lower priority.

We would also like to remember that if you would want to particpate in the GetDeb team you should take a loot at http://wiki.getdeb.net/, any help is appreciated, developers, packagers, designers, testers, etc.

[billgoldberg]

Clean installs people, clean installs.

[Eisenwinter]

clean installs people, clean installs.
+1.

[MasterNetra]

Clean installs people, clean installs.

I intend to. I want to downgrade to 32bit so i can install adobe air followed by Finetune's desktop player...might need wine for that too idk...Does use adobe air to install though so meh.

[Saint Angeles]

Clean installs people, clean installs.
some people dont like erasing all their data and reformatting everytime they want to upgrade their OS.

and seeing as upgrading to ibex works flawlessly, theres no reason to only believe in clean installs.

if i wanted to reformat my hard drive every 6 months, i'd be using windows again.

[billgoldberg]

some people dont like erasing all their data and reformatting everytime they want to upgrade their OS.

and seeing as upgrading to ibex works flawlessly, theres no reason to only believe in clean installs.

if i wanted to reformat my hard drive every 6 months, i'd be using windows again.

What's the big deal about a clean install?

It takes less time than the upgrade, and you should back up your data anyway so that shouldn't be an issue.

You're sure you don't have any issues with other already installed packages, the system will be faster and you can start customising all over again.

[barbedsaber]

but, I upgraded ages ago, and it worked fine.

[Saint Angeles]

What's the big deal about a clean install?

It takes less time than the upgrade, and you should back up your data anyway so that shouldn't be an issue.

You're sure you don't have any issues with other already installed packages, the system will be faster and you can start customising all over again.
downloading an ISO, burning to a disc, backing up data, reformatting and reinstalling, then resetting all my settings back to where they were takes a lot longer than doing a simple upgrade.

plus, all my "700mb" CD-Rs all seem to be around 760 which is so retarded its unreal.

and because my external drive is filled to the max, backing up all my stuff to CDs would take a ridiculous amount of time.

when i do an upgrade, i can keep all the settings for ALL my applications. i do a lot of tweaking with my system, so to do it again would just be a stupid waste of time.

if you use the default theme and don't like to mess with settings, then sure... a clean install might be fine.

[andrewabc]

plus, all my "700mb" CD-Rs all seem to be around 760 which is so retarded its unreal.


I finally learned several years ago when it comes to linux iso use cd-rw
I have about 10 cd-r with ubuntu and other stuff that is from 2006 that are useless now. Now I have 10 cd-rw and burn over each new version of ubuntu and other linux stuff.

I've done clean installs with ubuntu. Less chance of problems. And before upgrading you should backup as well.

I agree that backing up to cd/dvd is a pain. But better than losing the data :P

[MasterNetra]

The point of this thread is to remove the stuff you got from getdeb before you upgrade. A Clean install helps insure the system runs smoothly. But it is optional. If you wish to risk simply doing a upgrade then more power to ya. Just remove the stuff from getdeb to avoid problems then re-install afterward.


I finally learned several years ago when it comes to linux iso use cd-rw
I have about 10 cd-r with ubuntu and other stuff that is from 2006 that are useless now. Now I have 10 cd-rw and burn over each new version of ubuntu and other linux stuff.

I've done clean installs with ubuntu. Less chance of problems. And before upgrading you should backup as well.

I agree that backing up to cd/dvd is a pain. But better than losing the data :P

You can save stuff onto hotmail's skydrive. Sure you will have to break up stuff that is more then 50mb's and it could take forever but hey at least you won't have to worry about cd's. :P

[LaRoza]

Clean installs people, clean installs.

I install next to everything on a different hard disk (my machine has two) and test it there. When I'm sure it works, I install over my old installation.


some people dont like erasing all their data and reformatting everytime they want to upgrade their OS.

and seeing as upgrading to ibex works flawlessly, theres no reason to only believe in clean installs.


I use the same $HOME, so I only have to reinstall the apps I want.

[Frak]

And this is why I have a seperate /home paritition. I then can reinstall without losing all my important documents.

[FuturePilot]

Clean installs people, clean installs.

I prefer upgrading.

[lswb]

and seeing as upgrading to ibex works flawlessly, theres no reason to only believe in clean installs.


While most users have upgraded without complications, after every new release of ubuntu, there have been a significant number who did not have an upgrade that worked "flawlessly." The forum polls, admittedly unscientific, after an upgrade typically show 20% to 50% of users having problems or totally unsuccessful upgrades. It would be ill-advised to not have a backup of anything important before attempting to upgrade. I have always tried to upgrade myself, but except for breezy to dapper, always needed a new install to get things right.

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Intrepid has a handy tool called usb-creator (which is like Fedora's live usb creator) in its repositories. You need never burn a CD to install / show off Ubuntu again! It's blazing fast running off a good USB flash drive, too.


What's the big deal about a clean install?

It takes less time than the upgrade, and you should back up your data anyway so that shouldn't be an issue.

On my computer I first installed Gutsy, which I soon upgraded to Hardy. I was running the same instance of Hardy on there for almost six months so I did many geeky tweaks and installed a lot of packages, including third party ones via extra repositories. I have built and installed countless things from source including my own tweaked Metacity. Upgraded to Intrepid with its last alpha release. My system was admitedly running a bit slowly at this point, so I spent about 30 minutes going through Synaptic and the main menu, removing unused software and daemons. I reverted my tweaks to readahead which have been rendered redundant by Intrepid's now quite excellent startup time. I reset a ton of configuration files and reconfigured alsa so it worked as if I'd just freshly installed it. Intrepid on my computer, with the exception of a recurring scheduler related kernel panic that started up bizarrely late in development, has been a vast improvement over older releases. And that's with a regular upgrade via update-manager, not a fresh install on a CD. This means there was next to no risk of me accidentally losing my data, there was next to no lost uptime for the super-important services I had running in the background and all of my settings and tools were in place as before.

One thing that may have helped is that my choice of third party repos is very strict. I try to only add Launchpad PPAs to my sources.list for the bleeding edge free software stuff (eg: Banshee 1.x), with small exceptions being Toribash and Boxee which I trust quite happily.

My point? Saying that people should do a clean install and should avoid smooth upgrades is harmful disinformation and has been for the past year.

[Vadi]

I did not mean clean installs, I meant remove all getdeb packages. Upgrades are fine.

[34.50]

some people dont like erasing all their data and reformatting everytime they want to upgrade their OS.It's called putting your data on a separate partition...

[blatestblabla]

It's called putting your data on a separate partition...
Stop being logical, it's offensive! :)

[FuturePilot]

Intrepid has a handy tool called usb-creator (which is like Fedora's live usb creator) in its repositories. You need never burn a CD to install / show off Ubuntu again! It's blazing fast running off a good USB flash drive, too.



On my computer I first installed Gutsy, which I soon upgraded to Hardy. I was running the same instance of Hardy on there for almost six months so I did many geeky tweaks and installed a lot of packages, including third party ones via extra repositories. I have built and installed countless things from source including my own tweaked Metacity. Upgraded to Intrepid with its last alpha release. My system was admitedly running a bit slowly at this point, so I spent about 30 minutes going through Synaptic and the main menu, removing unused software and daemons. I reverted my tweaks to readahead which have been rendered redundant by Intrepid's now quite excellent startup time. I reset a ton of configuration files and reconfigured alsa so it worked as if I'd just freshly installed it. Intrepid on my computer, with the exception of a recurring scheduler related kernel panic that started up bizarrely late in development, has been a vast improvement over older releases. And that's with a regular upgrade via update-manager, not a fresh install on a CD. This means there was next to no risk of me accidentally losing my data, there was next to no lost uptime for the super-important services I had running in the background and all of my settings and tools were in place as before.

One thing that may have helped is that my choice of third party repos is very strict. I try to only add Launchpad PPAs to my sources.list for the bleeding edge free software stuff (eg: Banshee 1.x), with small exceptions being Toribash and Boxee which I trust quite happily.

My point? Saying that people should do a clean install and should avoid smooth upgrades is harmful disinformation and has been for the past year.

I agree, I have done many upgrades, and I have yet to have one blow up completely in my face. They usually go without a single problem. IMO upgrading is a lot faster since it just upgrades the packages and leaves everything else the same. You don't have to re install everything or re-tweak everything.

[wolfen69]

What's the big deal about a clean install?

It takes less time than the upgrade, and you should back up your data anyway so that shouldn't be an issue.

You're sure you don't have any issues with other already installed packages, the system will be faster and you can start customising all over again.

i have to agree. i don't see what the big deal is. if people added up all the hours they waste watching tv or surfing, not to mention all the other mindless things they do, spending a couple hours to clean install is really no big deal. plus, there's nothing like the smell of a fresh os in the morning.

i will NEVER upgrade. it would bother me til no end, knowing that it could be less than perfect. i wouldn't trust it.

[blatestblabla]

I actually find it rather enjoyable to install a fresh version of Ubuntu, and then start gradually building the system with apt-get installations of new software, as well as themes, fonts and other settings. A new installation of Windows is somewhat painful, because even if you have all the drivers/software ready and all you need to do is go through the hoops, it's time confusing and not that much fun. With Ubuntu, I enjoy working out exactly what packages to install, then writing scripts so that in a future reinstall, I just run the scripts and it rebuilts the system to my specifications cleanly and without any old rot.

It's a desire for the cleanest build I suppose. A perfect OS as some others have said.

[macogw]

some people dont like erasing all their data and reformatting everytime they want to upgrade their OS.
Who says you have to lose your data to do a clean install? If you have a separate /home, it won't be formatted. And even if you don't, according to the ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list, the stuff under /home inside the main partition is left alone / not erased.

[wolfen69]

Who says you have to lose your data to do a clean install?

no one is saying you have to, but i think most people agree that a clean install has the best chance of success. and i don't care about the home folder either. the only thing i transfer over is my .mozilla and .mozilla thunderbird. all my data is kept on seperate drives.

[lisati]

Ah, the variety of experiences of the forum members. If upgrade works best, that's good. If a "clean install" (with suitable precaustions to protect important data) works, that's good too.

[quanumphaze]

I prefer to clean install since I tend to install random things from the repo and forget what I installed, so they end up wasting space. But I am hesitant to start removing stuff in case it's important or a compiled from source app still needed it to run.

I do this mostly when I have to install dependencies so I can compile a program that isn't in any repo. I also installed KDE4.0 on hardy here to see what it's like (though never used it much) and I plan to use XFCE on Intrepid for faster login times.

And +1 to whoever said use a separate /home partition. This will make the upgrade from Ubuntu 8.04 to anything else easier. Though I always backup!

[rudihawk]

clean installs people, clean installs.

+2

[timcredible]

some people dont like erasing all their data and reformatting everytime they want to upgrade their OS.

and seeing as upgrading to ibex works flawlessly, theres no reason to only believe in clean installs.

if i wanted to reformat my hard drive every 6 months, i'd be using windows again.

no need to erase your data, just create a separate /home directory, then you can install new versions of linux without touching your accounts and data.