[ale] upgrading my obsolete Ubuntu 11.04 to What?

[JD]

Look into the dpkg --get-selections; dpkg --set-selections as a way to migrate apps between OS versions.  This doesnt' address settings or data, but your backups should easily handle those.

Before 12.04, some system configuration things were different - resolv.conf as an example.  Newly installed systems appear to have different settings than upgraded systems. I've been screwed by this a few times myself.  I prefer to load a new OS on a newly formatted partition for that reason.

I'm with you on staying on LTS releases, but don't really expect 5 yrs of use out of a desktop. Back-ported patches do not cover it for a desktop when the rest of the world moves forward with a new version of many client apps. It is hard to explain, but you'll see that new apps only get built for the last Ubuntu release, not the LTS version after about 18 months. Security patches are back-ported, so you don't have to move forward until the cloud-functions break.  I usually make it about 28 months between LTS desktop switches.  On 10.04, thunderbird and firefox releases ended a few months ago and installing libreoffice became problematic as a few examples.  Still, the 2.5 yrs of stability where great.

For servers however, I'm using the 5 yrs right now with a few 8.04 servers that are still patched and have been happily working since summer 2008. Migration of those servers is happening soon.

As to which Gui to run - that is completely up to you.  A GUI is just another program after all, not core to the OS.  Heck, have some fun with fvwm.  

"Ron Frazier (ALE)" <atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>( I've been tied up with hard drive maintenance lately.  I have some
>old 
>threads still waiting for replies on tablet GUI's, hard drive 
>maintenance, and hard drive partitions.  I've got some info to share on
>
>these topics when I can.  Thanks for all the replies to those earlier 
>threads.  I just happened to be up late tonight and have been dealing 
>with OS upgrades on Windows, so I thought I'd ask about OS upgrades on 
>Linux too.)
>
>My Ubuntu 11.04 installs recently went out of support, so I'm 
>considering upgrading.  I want to stick within the Debian lineage since
>
>I really like the efficient package management system of APT and am 
>fairly familiar with the way Ubuntu does things.  I hate Unity, as I've
>
>ranted about before.  I do like Gnome 2, so I want something similar to
>
>that.
>
>I probably won't be doing Debian 6 Squeeze, per this article:
>
>http://www.osnews.com/story/24535/Debian_6_Squeeze_Not_Good/
>
>The main options I'm aware of right now are Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and Mint. 
>
>The idea of a full install isn't appealing, since there are hundreds of
>
>things I tweak when I install any new OS, and it takes several days.  
>(Firefox plus Ghostery plus Better Privacy plus NoScript plus Flash 
>alone have about 80 settings options to check, for each user login.)  
>But, I could do a full install if I have to.
>
>Based on my reading, I'd probably put Mate on as the UI.  I know this,
>I 
>must have a categorized MENU of all available apps, like Gnome 2.  The 
>DASH button then type what you want option in Unity is fine if it's an 
>ADJUNCT to the MENU.  If you know what you want, that's wonderful.  If 
>there's a lot more about Linux that you don't know than what you do, 
>like me, then you need a MENU.
>
>The other thing that's important to me is support.  Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is
>
>supported for 5 years.  That's good.  Because, I'd much rather spend my
>
>time using the computer than upgrading it every couple of years or so.
>
>Frankly, Microsoft is doing better at this than the Linux community. 
>My 
>Vista and Windows 7 installs get security and maintenance updates for
>10 
>years, compared to 5 for new LTS versions of Ubuntu, 3 for prior LTS 
>versions (I think), and 1.5 or .5 for some products.
>
>So, Vista, which was released in 2007, is supported until 2017, the
>same 
>as Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.
>Windows 7, which was released in 2009, is supported until 2020, longer 
>than any current Linux I'm familiar with.
>
>I think that if Linux developers want long term users, they need to get
>
>more serious about long term support.  Ubuntu's move to 5 year LTS 
>support is a step in the right direction.
>
>Anyway, from a functionality and usability point of view, do you think 
>I'd be better off with Ubuntu 12.04 and Mate, Mint and Mate, or 
>something else?  I also want to make my upgrade path as relatively 
>painless as possible.  I'm considering doing an in place upgrade to 
>Ubuntu 11.10 and then an in place upgrade to 12.04.  I know that will 
>take many hours, but hopefully, most things that used to work will
>still 
>work.
>
>Any help is appreciated, as always.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Ron

-- 
Sent from a Linux system.