[Solved] Running 17.3 - When do I upgrade?

[sjmathis]

I've been happily running 17.3 for nearly two years. I have it on two systems, a desktop and a notebook. The desktop is a 1.6 GHz Dell Optiplex 780, with 4G ram and a 750G HD. The notebook is a Toshiba 505 that was too small to run the full version of Window 7 when I converted it to Linux Mint. Both systems have been updated with everything that appeared in the software manager, which in retrospect was probably a mistake, since both systems are now showing signs of age, pausing frequently, probably due to swapping. Swappiness is set to 10 on both systems, and I tried other settings to no avail.

I have a feeling that I should be considering a fresh install of a more recent version of Mint. My question is should I go directly to 19?

I gather that I could upgrade from 17.3 to 18, and then to 18.3, and then to 19, but I'm guessing that approach won't get rid of the unused stuff I've acquired over the last two years, and that I should just back up the data, list the apps I want to keep, and go for a fresh install, right?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Jack

[JerryF]

Hi Jack,

You could go that route of upgrading, then upgrading again all the way to 19, but I wouldn't for the reason you stated. A fresh install is better and I think you'll be glad you did in the long run.

I would highly suggest that you create a Live USB Mint 19 (desktop of your choice---Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce). Cinnamon, as you may already know is heavier on resources.

Run the Live USB several times and see if it runs o.k. on either system. I'd bet that you won't have much of a problem on the Dell. The Toshiba may be an issue, but give it a try anyway. MATE or Xfce may do better on the Toshiba.

I recently converted from 19 Cinnamon to 19 Xfce and haven't regretted it one bit. In fact, there have been a couple of occasions where I'm glad I have Xfce instead of Cinnamon.

P.S. 17.x is supported until 2019, so don't rush into a decision. Check out all options. Version 18.x is supported until 2021, so you may want to try that too.

[redlined]

Hi Jack,

You could go that route of upgrading, then upgrading again all the way to 19, but I wouldn't for the reason you stated. A fresh install is better and I think you'll be glad you did in the long run.

I would highly suggest that you create a Live USB Mint 19 (desktop of your choice---Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce). Cinnamon, as you may already know is heavier on resources.

Run the Live USB several times and see if it runs o.k. on either system. I'd bet that you won't have much of a problem on the Dell. The Toshiba may be an issue, but give it a try anyway. MATE or Xfce may do better on the Toshiba.

I recently converted from 19 Cinnamon to 19 Xfce and haven't regretted it one bit. In fact, there have been a couple of occasions where I'm glad I have Xfce instead of Cinnamon.

P.S. 17.x is supported until 2019, so don't rush into a decision. Check out all options. Version 18.x is supported until 2021, so you may want to try that too.

+1 yes, yes, yes- please do determine potential for upgrade using Live session from CD or USB several times before diving into fresh install, with backups you're covered and other options like backing up package/application settings you may want to try aptik (it is an additional repo, with all the standard warnings issued by locals, however you will find many who recommend Tony George's PPA (teejee2008), he's also the guy who brought us Timeshift (now integrated into LM19:)

see here for info on that: https://github.com/teejee2008/aptik

Code: Select all

sudo apt-add-repository -y ppa:teejee2008/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install aptik-gtk aptik

[srq2625]

I would give this thread by karlchen --> Upgrade from Mint 17.1 to Mint 19 in-place (experiment)

as part of your "should I upgrade" decision process.

[sjmathis]

Thanks for all the replies. Very helpful. It took a while, but I'm now running 19.1 and I've been able to solve the issues that I ran into with the help of the Forum.