difference between "do-release-upgrade" and "apt-get dist-upgrade"

[Nils Kassube]

Amedee Van Gasse (ub) wrote:
> I've spent the last few minutes looking for the difference between
> "do-release-upgrade" and "apt-get dist-upgrade".
> 
> I *know* that there is a difference.
> I *know* that "do-release-upgrade" is recommended over editing
> sources.list and running "apt-get dist-upgrade".
> I can explain it in my own words.
> 
> But I am unable to find any *official* documentation on the Ubuntu
> website, or developer notes, that explain *why*. Something that
> explains in detail *what* it is exactly that "do-release-upgrade"
> does.

From [1]:

| Debian based systems can also be upgraded by using apt-get 
| dist-upgrade. However, using do-release-upgrade is recommended 
| because it has the ability to handle system configuration changes
| sometimes needed between releases.


Nils

[1] <https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/serverguide/C/installing-upgrading.html>