Huckleberry Finn wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 4:36 am
Yes, but just like MX & Debian relation: Providing that the Ubuntu base is still the same.
When it's a new Ubuntu base you need to fresh install.
Not that accurate. I believe Mint does provide a upgrade path from LTS to LTS version, which they reduced to a graphical interface button.
Even from days of old (maybe 2010 onwards), I recall Kubuntu LTS already having that type of upgrade path***. I used to run Kubuntu LTS on my old ASUS laptop and I recall using that upgrade path twice, ie I had 3 different releases of Kubuntu LTS on my laptop. However, after my second running of the upgrade path, the 3rd LTS release of Kubuntu didn't run too well on my machine. It was glitchy and I wiped it. I think too much cruft was left behind after 2 rounds of release upgrades, maybe new release packages weren't a 1-for-1 replacement for old packages, etc.
Same with the old Netrunner (Ubuntu KDE-based). I'd gone through 2 upgrades (15, 16 17) on my PC, and again the 3rd release version was just not running right so I got rid of it.
After that, my view was that for Debian/Ubuntu-based fixed release distros, clean installs were better. I could always backup or reuse /home, but the system packages were best clean-installed.
You can also do release upgrades in vanilla Debian if you just manually change the repos to the next stable release when it's available. How long it will last without some issues setting in however, I don't know. Perhaps it'll be fine if you mainly stuck with what was in Debian's own repos.
But MX is different:
1. uses systemd-shim in order to have both init systems co-exist
2. backports lots of packages, including things like graphics-related drivers and packages
3. uses tricks to make sure some things that require systemd will still work in sysv (eg network manager, getting the action buttons in sddm login screen to work in modern themes)
Those things may or may not interfere with the normal upgrade path of vanilla Debian. See the excerpt below from MX website:
https://mxlinux.org/mx-repos/
Debian Stable is a wonderful solid distribution that can be upgraded in place from version to version automatically as long as the Debian Stable repos are used exclusively. MX uses Debian Stable as a base, but updates a lot of the userland programs & libraries, and backports newer programs from testing by building them against the Stable base. That gives a better user experience but interferes with Debian’s dist-upgrade path. Our current choice is to stick with sysvinit instead of going to full systemd.
So it’s a trade-off: better desktop user experience at the expense of having to do a quick fresh install (which lets you save /home if desired) when the Debian base changes, typically every 2-3 years
***note: by the provision of an upgrade path, I mean that I actually got a notification in the panel that a new version of Kubuntu LTS was available and I could click on something to commence upgrade.
