Transfering programs from old to new installation

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nuxli

Transfering programs from old to new installation

Post by nuxli »

What's the best way to transfer programs from my current linux mint 17.3 to a fresh install of 18.3 LTS ?

would i copy the /usr directory from 17.3 to 18.3?

please dont ask why i am doing this, this seems like a good way to do it it without having to individually install all the programs from my 17.3 to 18.3, to avaerage user seems like a plausible thing to do
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xenopeek
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Re: Transfering programs from old to new installation

Post by xenopeek »

In short: that won't work.

Linux Mint 17.3 and 18.3 use a different package base (Ubuntu 14.04 vs 16.04) and thus have different versions of system libraries, or will even use entirely different libraries for specific areas. Programs are compiled to work with the system libraries that come with the package base. When you move those programs to a newer package base, the system libraries on the newer package base won't match what the programs need because they were compiled for the older package base. Similarly if you then try to also move system libraries from the older package base to the newer package base, you'll break programs that were compiled to work with the newer package base (so everything else on your new install).
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phd21
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Re: Transfering programs from old to new installation

Post by phd21 »

Hi nuxli,

Big +1 for "xenopeek" 's comments on your post.

Do not try to copy, or backup and restore, applications and their configurations from one system to a newer system using a different base operating system like from Linux Mint 17.x based on Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty to 18.x based on Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial or 19.x based on Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic. I can tell you from personal experience it does not work or will not work well.

You can use an application like "Aptik" to identify and create lists of installed applications and use that as a guide or "checklist" to show you what applications need to be installed (re-installed) in the new version. Obviously, any application's user data can be backed up and restored.

I have literally hundreds of applications installed from many various sources, and when I install or re-install a new version, I have to go through my checklist and install all the top priority ones and then all the others. It takes some time, but well worth the effort for a stable system.

FYI: Most of the browsers already have a "sync" option which if you have turned on and used before, just login to the sync and that can easily restore your bookmarks, browser passwords, settings, and most will even add back all your extension add-ons; usually takes a minute or two, and you should restart the browsers afterward.

Hope this helps ...
Phd21: Mint 20 Cinnamon & xKDE (Mint Xfce + Kubuntu KDE) & KDE Neon 64-bit (new based on Ubuntu 20.04) Awesome OS's, Dell Inspiron I5 7000 (7573) 2 in 1 touch screen, Dell OptiPlex 780 Core2Duo E8400 3GHz,4gb Ram, Intel 4 Graphics.
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