Do any of you rebuild your machines on a regular basis as opposed to upgrading as new releases occur?

What do you mean by this?

I keep the security patches installed that Slackware provides on a stable release.

I have upgraded, but prefer a clean install. Upgrading leaves cruft around in various directories.

I think you understood my question, clean install in my opinion will clear all the crud that builds up over the months/years. Cheers

I'm using a rolling release. Install once and update every few days/weeks/months until the machine dies. Used one like that for 10 years. Don't have a cruft build up.

I rebuild all the time, as I decide to try out different OS's on different hardware.

What's a "regular basis?"

I typically upgrade when a new release is issued, but if things are status-quo, I might not. "Don't fix what ain't broke."
That's not saying things don't break, like if the package manager decides to crap itself, and I can't fix it easily ... that's a reinstall rather than sweating it too much.

I keep a VM of the same OS for testing new software or configurations before applying to my main one.

Same here.

I assume by "rebuild" you mean reinstall from scratch. That's something I do only when I must.

I keep my machines updated and do version upgrades when applicable. I rebuild only when I break them, which I try not to do.

One of the members of my LUG--who is our unofficial leader to the extent that we have a leader--does a new install with each version upgrade (he uses Mageia). In part this is because he's leery of on-line upgrades and in part because he sees it as an opportunity to clear out the dustbunnies.

No. I don't run Windows.

Evo2.

I go by the upgrade notes. If the devs say you should reinstall, then I reinstall. If they say an online upgrade is OK, then I do that.

Thanks everyone

I like trying new things. (OR OLD things that I missed the first time.)

I reload my machines every year or so, and run live images from USB using the tools in my signature about monthly. This does not apply only to Linux, I also try out KolibriOS, ReactOS, FreeDOS, and other non-*nix non-Microsoft options from time to time. It is fun AND educational.

I started on Red Hat (Pre-Enterprise, Pre-Fedora) and got PAID to admin RHEL for a decade or two. Durintg that time I also run working instances of Debian (and still do form time to time, it is solid), CentOS (until they ruined it), Ubuntu (The ONLY one that became totally crippled after updates, never again), Q4OS, SUSE, Elementary, Sparky, VSIDO, MintDE, and a dozen others. I even got roped into managing Windows domains form time to time. If you stick with one single thing for too long, you start to stagnate! Diversify and try!

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MS Windows systems I'll rebuild roughly every 12-18mo from scratch.

Linux systems I'll only perform a full rebuild if I make a major change to hardware, or after starting to experience random odd errors due to to much clutter from upgrades.

Under Fedora that was roughly every 5 or so upgrades.

Under Ubuntu/PoP!_OS I have not had to rebuild my new laptop yet (2 years), my old laptop has bad hardware and has been powered down. the HDD is about dead.

My workstation just got a fresh install due to major hardware changes, prior to that had been 2 years since last rebuild when I moved from Fedora to PoP!_OS