UBUNTU UPGRADE 10.4 to 10.10
 

Been using Ubuntu for a couple of years and have struggled through reading these and similar forums for help to varying degrees of success. This is my first post: When I tried to upgrade from 10.04, 10.10 didn't work well and I re-installed 10.04 which is working well. How long can I go before it becomes necessary to upgrade. I've read something about each upgrade being supported for only so long.

Thanks

Dan32

Ubuntu 10.04
 

Each spring (.04) version is good for 5 years...so you've got another 4.

Thanks!

When you do upgrade, it's best to do a fresh installation of the newer version. Internet upgrades tend to have unpredictable results.

Close.

Normal ubuntu releases are supported for 18 months. Ubuntu 'LTS' (long term support) versions are supported for longer than all other ubuntu releases, but they are not every .04 release. LTS releases come every 2 years- 8.04, 10.04 (12.04 will be another LTS version). You only ever get 5 years for 'server' versions, not for the desktop versions, which only get 3 years.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

ubuntu releases
 

Thanks, cascade9, for setting the record straight!

No problem. ;)

The necessity for an update to a newer operating system version depends slightly on you yourself. If you are connected to internet and use it a lot, it's probably a good idea to keep things up to date, to keep at least the biggest holes closed (it's still not bulletproof, not even when you harden the system, as the whole concept of a "safe" system is quite a relative thing). If there was no internet connection at all, you could get along fine for long without ever upgrading, at least if there were no bugs that affected your work. I know some systems that haven't been updated for years, partly because there is no need, and partly because there simply are no updates available and replacing the whole system would be a huge thing. Then there's the third case; if you want shiny new software, you are going to have to update the system all the time.

The through-internet updates of Ubuntu do work, but (personal experience) do tend to get messed up more easily than a clean update (to use the latter one, you should keep your home directory somewhere where it does not get destroyed in the process, or at least recent backups of your data). Other than that, there's one thing you should keep in mind: to use Ubuntu, you'll eventually going to update to the now-newest versions, which are presently going through some quite big changes, for example in the user interface. Keep that in mind, and please do check what you're going to get before getting it. The installation ("desktop"/live) disc is a good thing if you're fine with downloading and burning it (or writing to a usb stick), as it gives you a preview of the thing before changing anything.