Lubuntu & The VERY Old Machines - Part 2

Hi,

Further to the previous post [1], I'd like to highlight a point that I find it very important and valid, IMHO :)

Since my first days with Linux until date, I always find people are so much obsessed about 'Upgrading' their perfectly working systems to the 'newer/next' version/release to what they are currently using. For example, if they are using 12.04, they upgrade to 12.10.

First thing first, you need to understand that 'upgrading' does not necessarily mean something 'good' or 'prefect' or 'better' all the time :) it actually could be 'worse'.

HOW?

Will explain in examples and numbers:

L/ubuntu 12.04 is using Kernel 3.2 series 

L/ubuntu 12.10 is using Kernel 3.5 series 

L/ubuntu 13.04 will be using Kernel 3.8 series 

As explained in my previous post, each version of Linux Kernel has something different than the previous version. We are in 2013 and the rapid growth of the software and the hardware world is crazy and unbelievable. Have you asked yourself for how long my 10+ years old machine will still breathe Linux? for how long you can actually use it? etc. 

Do you see my point and where I'm heading? 


Okay, to make it clear, simple, and direct:

1- If you are upgrading JUST for the sake of upgrading or because you like that, this is different story and I can't discuss that because this is a personal opinion. However, if I were you, I would first of all, read the release notes of the new version carefully before I do anything else. Again, 13.04 does not necessarily mean it is better than 12.04 for example just because 13 is larger than 12 :P 

2- If you are upgrading because your current system have some problems/bugs and you couldn't mange to fix that in 6 months or so, then upgrading could be a valid point. However, you still need to read the release notes :D to make sure the current problems which you currently have, will be fixed with the next release. Otherwise, upgrading is useless if you ask me :) 

3- If you are upgrading because your current system has reached to its EOL[2], then no doubt, this is a very valid point. I guess, needless to repeat, you still need to read the release notes to make sure the next release still support your Hardware. If that is not mentioned, you need to give it a try. Remember, old machines what we are talking about here :D 

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EOLUpgrades

4- If you are upgrading JUST because you think your machine may work better or something with the new release then you need to understand that this is not necessarily correct. Yes, again, release notes to understand what is/are the difference(s) between your current working version and the next one. And if I were you, I would test the new release on my machine to see whether it will work better or not. 

IMHO? 

As long as you have a perfectly working system with no issues, etc then I would never think to change that :) 

I still keep 12.04 on my two laptops and I'm not planning to install Lubuntu 13.04 on them. I'm using 13.04 right now for testing purposes :D
Think twice before any step because your machine is old. Treating old stuff is not like treating new ones ;) 

Hope that was a bit helpful :)

As always, thanks for reading!

[1] - http://amjjawad.blogspot.com/2013/04/lubuntu-and-very-old-machines.html 

[2] - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases