Update from 16.04 to 18.04 - Is it worth it?
 

Now that 18.04 has been out for a while, I was wondering what the user feedback would be. So far I have seen any compelling reason to upgrade from 16.04 to 18.04.

I do have Lubuntu 18.04 installed on a "spare" computer that is 10 years old. The upgrade to Lubuntu 18.04 works fine, but I have not observed any compelling reason to upgrade my other computers. Considerations for not upgrading, at this time, include finding an alternate Linux back-up program to sbackup and the simple fact that I actually like Unity. A major consideration for upgrading is that the current release of KMyMoney Version 5 currently does not install under Ubuntu 16.04. What is now the prior version of KMyMoney works fine under Ubuntu 16.04.

I've done some minor explorations into seeing if sbackup would work under Ubuntu 18.04 but that hasn't worked yet. (Note: that sbackup has not been updated since 2013.) I also made attempts to see if KMyMoney Version 5 would work under Ubuntu 16.04, but that didn't go well either. So - for now I will be keeping Ubuntu 16.04 since I don't see any compelling reason to upgrade based on the current configuration working well.

What are your thoughts on upgrading?

I used the upgrade command one time and it did not perform correctly. My os at that time (Fedora) had graphic issues and a few other things didn't work correctly or was really slow. Running the dist-upgrade cmd has broken things for me.

-::-IMO, performing a fresh installation from either a CD/DVD or make a Live USB is the best practice.-::-

I'd see what other members that have upgraded from 16.04 to 18.04 have to say before putting it into motion.
Personally, I wouldn't trust it:-

I've been waiting for that. But since I have not seen posts appear in that regard, I made this post hoping that others would be encouraged to comment on their success or lack of success with the upgrade process.

I used my "spare" computer as the test subject for the upgrade from 16.04 to 18.04. The upgrade failed. Since the "spare" computer is 10 years old and underpowered by today's standards, I decided to do a fresh install using Lubuntu 18.04. The fresh install went well and very quickly. So far it is working well.

Glad to hear your fresh installation of Lubuntu 18.04 is running well. CONGRADS-:)

Let's see if others chime in about performing an upgrade and what their success or failures were:-

What kernel is Lubuntu using?

Linux Altair 4.15.0-29-generic #31-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jul 17 15:39:52 UTC 2018 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Ok, just checking.;)

The latest stable is 4.18.4:-

https://www.kernel.org/

I'm on 16.04 waiting for a free weekend to upgrade.

When you get the chance to upgrade let us know how it goes:-

I upgraded a laptop or 2 at my work. They went well enough. Although I have had 1 user that has had nothing but issues with 18.04 so far (To be fair, she has no idea how to use linux, but has been forced to use it as all developers are now required to be on linux).

If you don't *need* to upgrade, then don't.

Do be aware though that since you are running a non rolling-release distribution, some of your repository-based software may become rather out-of-date functionality-wise (you should still be covered for security updates). However you can always install more recent versions of any such software manually or through a PPA, etc. if that is important to you.

I upgraded my VM to 18.04.1 this morning - no problems so far.

Here is one alternative approach that one may take, without actually upgrading from Ubuntu 16.04 to 18.04. How To Easily Upgrade Linux Kernel In Ubuntu And Linux Mint. Since I have never used "ukuu", I can't comment on the efficacy (quality) of this program. The author (Abhishek Prakash) writes "In my opinion, there is no ‘real’ need of upgrading to a newer Linux kernel unless it provides you a good enough reason."

I am still sticking with Ubuntu 16.04 so far.

If everything is running well I generally don't upgrade either.:)
Xubuntu 16.04 is running very well for me. The system prompted me to upgrade to 18.04 and I said no.

I think 16.04 is supported until 2021.

Indeed it is. April 2021.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

Thanks-:)