When Should You Upgrade Ubuntu?

One of the most impressive things about Ubuntu is the committment to release an updated version once every six months, something unheard of in the world of operating systems. With a new release every six months, you might find yourself upgrading before you’re used to your old release.

I started using Ubuntu last summer at Dapper Drake 6.06. That version is an "LTS" version which means "Long Term Support". Ubuntu plans to support Dapper Drake for 5 years.

I loved Ubuntu so much on my desktop I decided to install it on a few workstations at my office. It played well my secretaries who liked the fact that their old systems were much faster without the drag of Windows XP, and yikes! it’s sad to say, but one system was even running Windows 98 before the Ubuntu install.

After the successful transition of a few of the workstations, I decided to put Ubuntu 6.06 on a server. Now the workstations boot as thin clients and I couldn’t be happier with the perfect small office setup.

All of this took about 2 or 3 months to complete. Right after the install of Ubuntu on the server, Ubuntu released Edgy Eft ahead of schedule.

I didn’t know what to expect from my first Ubuntu upgrade and I didn’t know if I should even bother. It took me a while to figure out the thin client setup and I didn’t want to ruffle anymore feathers at the office with more changes already.

I decided to upgrade only my home version of Ubuntu to Edgy Eft to see if it would be worth upgrading the office systems. I was impressed with the new sleekness. Yes, brown can be sleek. Ultimately, I decided against upgrading my office setup to anything beyond Dapper Drake for the time being because the Edgy Eft improvements wouldn’t add too much to my office install which was working just fine.

Let me take a second to remind you that whatever Ubuntu version you are running, your system will always be update in a manner of speaking. All Linux distros are made of packages that are regularly updated by developers. In the case of Ubuntu, the update packages are sent out regularly and downloaded to keep you up to date with security issues and the like.

Upgrade of my home Ubuntu system was relatively painless. I was skeptical initially because I’ve always been taught "Don’t ever get anything that ends in .0." Of course, Canonical isn’t stupid enough to release something in .0, they slap apparent random numbers on the end of releases like the current release of Feisty Fawn 7.04.

But back to when you should upgrade your version of Ubuntu from Dappr Drake to Edgy Eft, or Edgy Eft to Feisty Fawn.

When I upgraded from Dapper Drake to Edgy Eft, I found Ubuntu had switched out some of the programs I was used to, namely the original photo editing software for Dapper Drake had been switched to F-Spot in Edgy Eft. Switching fundamental programs in the distribution is one of the main things that comes with each Ubuntu release.

If you’ve fallen in love with a particular program, check before you upgrade Ubuntu. A decision may have been made to remove a program that you are comfortable with and this is something you should consider before upgrading to a new version.

After you’ve upgraded Ubuntu, you can always reinstall any package you liked if it’s missing from any new version. Don’t get too upset if your favorite package is missing, you might find that you like the new version of whatever has been adopted by Ubuntu. That’s exactly what happened with me and F-Spot. I ended up liking it more than the previous package I was using for photos.

One thing to keep in mind about upgrading is that these aren’t necessary upgrades and your current version is probably working just fine and is probably comfortably secure. Only upgrade after you’ve checked which packages have changed and assessed how your computer use will be changed, if at all.