The Ultimate Question - Upgrade or Re-Install?

[Derek Broughton]

Chanchao wrote:

> 
>> I am an upgrader myself.  Now, I have a REALLY fast connection and
>> don't mind setting the upgrade to start in the evening when I retire
>> from the computer, and come back in the morning to check on it.
> 
> ...and find it stuck on some silly configuration wizard of some package
> asking you to click 'Next', then spend another 50 minutes watching the
> upgrade unfold. :)

That's not really right.  You have a delay while everything gets downloaded. 
Then you have a configuration stage - so yes you have to come back at some
point to answer all the debconf prompts.  Then it should do all the
installs quietly (and this is the really slow part when you have a
high-speed connection).  Of course, sometimes there is an app that isn't
properly packaged.  I remember one that used to go through all the same
debconf prompts THREE times (I don't remember what it was, just that it's
been fixed since I filed a bug).  That shouldn't happen.  Anytime something
prompts during the install phase, file a bug report.
> 
> Still, the answer is of course UPGRADE!!!  That's what Ubuntu (Debian)
> was designed to go.
> 
> In my opinion the 'fresh' install people just do this based on faux
> psychological misconceptions about a new install being somehow 'fresher'
> as if it was a vegetable straight off a pristine farm.  Or, MS Windows
> experience has clouded their judgement.

I mostly do upgrades (I have dist-upgraded every release since Debian
slink), but sometimes it's just easier to remove the collected cruft by
doing a new install (I think I've done about 3 of those - every time after
having successfully upgraded to the latest release previously).
-- 
derek