Fed up with non-rolling releases...

[Eadwine Rose]

Rant moved to chat forum.

[chrispop99]

wanted to add that mx 21 may be good until 2026 but not sure about all of the security updates - the same LTS as debian Bullseye?

Yes.

Chris

[m_pav]

The upgrade then stalled at 81% so I did 'sudo reboot' as per the instructions.

I too had a go with the upgrade on a barely used MX21.3 disposable installation I had on a machine I use for testing only, and it did complete, but on completion after rebooting I tested many apps and found our QSI would fail to populate and try as i might, it wasn't going to work. I do recall having to leave the machine for somewhere near 30 minutes in a somewhat unresponsive state while the rtl8812 and rtl8821 drivers were being installed. Thew dev team had some discussion about this because they are seriously slow to install and/or upgrade.

If your machine doesn't have Realtek Wifi and doesn't use Realtek drivers, you can remove them to get rid of this issue. I do wonder if your freeze was related to this very thing.

[Dearth]

What I personally do:
- I maintain a "post install script" which includes all the commands/code that makes the new system into the one I need, meaning for example: adding new custom repos, installing software, downloading and installing fonts, changing default shell, adding custom aliases, putting some stuff into config files, etc.
- I use konsave to backup my Plasma settings into a single file - it contains fonts, some dotfiles, Plasma configs, etc. You can also add your own custom folders/files to ii so much more can be backed up and stored in a single file to restore everything easily:
https://github.com/Prayag2/konsave

There is also a GUI clone of konsave called Save Desktop, it supports more DEs than Plasma:
https://github.com/vikdevelop/SaveDesktop

Alternatively you can also take a look at Spiral Linux:
https://spirallinux.github.io/

It is not as good as MX Linux, but is basically a nicely preconfigured Debian Stable, which can be easily turned into Debian Testing by switching the repos.

[Jakob77]

deanr72

I don't know what is bad about MX 21
It has security support until 30 Jun 2026
https://endoflife.date/mxlinux

It is well tested and waiting a while longer before upgrading will just make sure MX23 will also be better tested before the serious upgrade is done.
If you switch fast after a release is available the risk of bugs is normally bigger.
I really like people who are men enough to take that risk because they help clearing the road for the rest of us.


Before MX I was using a rolling upgrade that was starting to fall apart.
After that I don't want to push the developers very much about it, and I think a waste of 4 hours (training) can't be that bad.
But frustrating of course if you expect a straight road with no bumps.

There are often many ways to do things but always taking install notes to remember every configuration detail can save a lot of time. I can see you wisely do that.
It is not just about being able to upgrade but also a matter of being able to restore in case the hardware melts down.
Again it is a matter of taste and needs but if possible in order to avoid too many complications it can be a good idea to limit yourself a bit in the configuration.
Snapshot is one of the greatest computer tools I have ever seen but I am not sure it is recommendable in general for installations on computers for very serious work.

I wish you the best luck with your next attempt.

[deanr72]

Rant moved to chat forum.

[thomasl]

My very first experiences with Linux as an OS were, many years ago, with Arch. It was a steep learning curve but I got a system up and running after a while and was reasonably happy with it. Then I went away for a few weeks... no PCs for the whole time... and on switching on my precious Arch install... broke while trying to update itself. Broke completely, became unusable. Undeterred, I tried again, only for the same thing to happen again a couple months later. Since then, rolling is dead for me.

By contrast, I was pleasantly surprised how relatively easy it was to go from my old 19.4 install to 23. There was a lot of stuff to remove, yeah, and a lot of stuff to add, and some hairy things I'd clean forgotten I had done. But I reused my 19.4 /home and so my apps, almost without exception (rofi was one), ran like before. It was still a lot of work as there were many smallish changes outside of /home but it was not nearly as bad as I thought.

Just my 2c.

[davidy]

Thanks Dearth. That flatpak ap SaveDesktop should be handy indeed. Works with xfce and will even reinstall your flats, PLUS your theming hopefully. I have added some mouses and icon sets not in the repos by hand and if it can restore that that would save some bs time for sure. I'll have to work on scripting for the debs I keep as backup locally. Libretto here we come. maybe next year

[MXRobo]

@davidy I assume that you noticed that SaveDesktop v. 2.9 is in MXPI>Flatpaks - I'm on MX-21.3 Xfce.

[Arnox]

Before you go, I'd just like to contribute my own $0.02 to this quandry.

A while ago, I made a video on migrating from Windows to Linux, and one of the core things that I talked about was the philosophy of use you need to have when running MX, Debian or any similar distro. Specifically, you shouldn't ever feel pressured to upgrade (unless you absolutely need the security updates). A lot of time and work and effort is put into every Debian Stable release, and also every MX Linux release. By the time you get the next stable MX release, everything should be incredibly polished. Everything in the MX stable repo should be tested to hell and back to make sure everything works together seamlessly. So, if your existing MX installation is working for you, you don't need to change it. It will continue working indefinitely with the MX team making sure that no breaking changes are introduced.

There's been this attitude lately in the overall software world that you HAVE to update ALL the time, and if you don't stay up to date, you're just gonna get left behind. With MX Linux, we build something out, ensure that it's fully stable, and then... We use it. Oftentimes for years and years. Again, if you need them, security updates are very important, but beyond that, updates, both big and small, are incredibly optional. Don't think of them as mandatory chores but as optional bonuses and small enhancements.