state of ISO for download

[SaintDanBert]

How do I know if the ISO I have is older or different from the one available for download.
OKAY?! I know I would find different md5sums, but I'm more interested in content differences that bit level differences.

I've looked on the download page for something that says, "... these ISO files created XYZ ..." or similar.
Have I missed something obvious?

Thanks in advance,
~~~ 0;-/ Dan

[cwsnyder]

Yes, you have missed something obvious to most people. The .iso file name includes either a date or version number. If that date or version number is identical to the one on the file you have, then the MD5SUMs should match and should be identical files.

[SaintDanBert]

Yes, you have missed something obvious to most people. The .iso file name includes either a date or version number. If that date or version number is identical to the one on the file you have, then the MD5SUMs should match and should be identical files.

(blushing) Boy am I embarrassed !!! I completely overlooked that obvious detail.

By way of follow-up, I got the Cinnamon edition that says "14.1" and the KDE edition
that says "14". There is not "build date" for the ISO. I would hope that each ISO has
a "manifest" or other as-built list of contents. I know that each distribution has such
a manifest of packages, but I don't find where that is updated as the ISO evolves.

Thanks in advance,
~~~ 0;-Dan

[cwsnyder]

Look on the site for the KDE build for the latest version. Cinnamon changed, so the point version change. KDE has not changed, nor has the base Mint changed.

Version dates are usually posted in the Mint blog.

When you install even the very latest .ISO file, you will probably have to update some files to get their latest unless you get an .ISO file immediately after a release. .ISO files are not updated every time a package in the file is updated. Take a look at Debian, they are only at version 6.06 for the stable branch, even though Squeeze was released February 6, 2011. 6.06 was released on September 29, 2012, 4 months ago. Even Ubuntu 12.04 is at 12.04.1, but released last August, that .ISO file would require updates to be installed either during or soon after installation.

If you want an .ISO file with all of the latest updates, look into generating a remastersys file ( http://remastersys.com/ ) which can also contain any personalization which you have done to your installation.