[ale] upgrading my obsolete Ubuntu 11.04 to What?

[Jim Lynch]

Cinnamon is available for 12.04. 
http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2012/09/20/install-cinnamon-1-6-in-ubuntu-12-04-lts/

I did it.  It's not  a bad environment.

Jim.
On 01/03/2013 03:13 AM, Ron Frazier (ALE) 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
>
>