When and how to upgrade

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Gualicho32
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When and how to upgrade

Post by Gualicho32 »

The machine that I'm currently running Mint 18 (MATE) on, is an 8-9 year old OEM with an oldschool Dual Core Processor. I still have not upgraded to the 4.4 kernel yet. I noticed some other users on here discussing the necessity of switching to lighter weight desktop environments for machines within this age range. When I eventually make the jump to the next LTS Edition, which would be better suited - X11 or XFCE? Also, what does the PPA acronym refer to exactly? :? Thanks.
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xenopeek
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Re: When and how to upgrade

Post by xenopeek »

You are highly recommended to upgrade to the 4.4 kernel. Any earlier kernel versions are no longer supported, meaning any security issues in your kernel are not being fixed. Please upgrade to 4.4 kernel, that will be supported for the remaining lifetime of Linux Mint 18 (April 2021).

As for switching to a lighter desktop environment, yes if you're going to move to a next LTS edition it may help a bit to switch to Xfce. (X11 is not a desktop environment but a display server; it runs underneath both MATE and Xfce.) Processor power isn't really the issue between MATE and Xfce I think. It's more: if you have very little RAM (say less than 1 GB) that Xfce uses a bit less memory than MATE. How much RAM does your system have?

PPA stands for Personal Package Archive. PPAs are software repositories you can add to your system (through the Software Sources program) to get newer versions of programs or additional programs. Often a maintainer or member of the development team of some program will maintain a PPA for the program so that users on Ubuntu based Linux distros such as Linux Mint can use it to get the program, or get a newer version (latest stable release or preview developer release) than otherwise available.
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Gualicho32
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Re: When and how to upgrade

Post by Gualicho32 »

I do apologize for my late reply. Just so you know, I did read your helpful message the other day and acted accordingly on your advice. I took some system snapshots before making the upgrades. As for my RAM, it seems like I vaguely remember seeing a menu that displays the machine's hardware specs, but I honestly don't remember how to pull it up on the gui (don't remember its name or where to find it now). Under "hardware" in the control panel, the HDD seems to be the only internal component mentioned (save for optical drive and USB ports)? I believe that I'm in pretty good shape on RAM though. I know for a fact that my installed memory sticks are well above 2GB together, somewhere in the ballpark of 4-6GB; professional gamers obviously have a lot more than I. I've been pretty distracted with a lot of different things, so it's often difficult being punctual with my feedback. I've been getting a crash course in new things that I've never done on a computer before. I'm still learning all the ropes. Someday I'll probably sign up for official correspondence courses in Linux, though I'm unsure when at the moment.

* RE X11, I guess I meant LXDE. Sorry about that.
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xenopeek
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Re: When and how to upgrade

Post by xenopeek »

No problem, you can't be everywhere at once.

The program you're looking for iss probably called System Info? If you don't have that in your menu you can instead open the terminal and run the command:
inxi -Fxz
to get a summary of your system specs. You can select and copy the output of the command through the terminal's Edit menu, so you can share it here if you want.

With 4 GB RAM and dual core processor you should be fine to run either MATE and Xfce, whichever you prefer.
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DAMIEN1307

Re: When and how to upgrade

Post by DAMIEN1307 »

xenopeek wrote,
The program you're looking for is probably called System Info?
i have it here if you cant remember what its called...its interesting to note that its "official" name is "System Profiler and Benchmark"...its install name is "hardinfo"...and at the top when its opened it is called "system information"...no wonder the OP cant remember what its called or where to find it in his menu...the developers had absolutely zero consistency in naming the program...for those that dont have it and would like a good comprehensive look at everything including benchmarking, here it is...

Install System Profiler and Benchmark

Code: Select all

sudo apt install hardinfo
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smurphos
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Re: When and how to upgrade

Post by smurphos »

DAMIEN1307 wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:36 am

Code: Select all

sudo apt install hardinfo
That's a nice app but Cinnamon at least provides a native System Info settings module - from the terminal cinnamon-settings info I don't think Mate or XFCE have a native equivalent.
For custom Nemo actions, useful scripts for the Cinnamon desktop, and Cinnamox themes visit my Github pages.
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xenopeek
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Re: When and how to upgrade

Post by xenopeek »

Just type system info in the menu and it will find it for you.
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DAMIEN1307

Re: When and how to upgrade

Post by DAMIEN1307 »

you're right there smurphos...i run xfce and i have to download this app in order to have it since it isnt native to the xfce system but its easy enough to just get it...sudo is my friend...lol...
Gualicho32
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Re: When and how to upgrade

Post by Gualicho32 »

Alright, the other day I got a category 4 security update on standby called "Systemd". I haven't installed it yet. I've looked around for information on support deadlines and what exactly it does in plain English. I've had no luck. All I could find, is that supposedly there was another package that this one succeeded as a replacement. My source is Ubuntu Wiki. Course of action?
DAMIEN1307

Re: When and how to upgrade

Post by DAMIEN1307 »

Systemd provides a standard process for controlling what programs run when a Linux system boots up. While systemd is compatible with SysV and Linux Standard Base (LSB) init scripts, systemd is meant to be a drop-in replacement for these older ways of getting a Linux system running....

so, in essence, i always install what is needed for systemd to work properly and be updated, especially if their is a red exclamation point on it...that means its a security update...i have had no problems doing so.
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