RE-Mint 20.2

[JesseRBassett]

Hey all,
Just wondering your opinion on if its a good idea to upgrade to Mint 21. I am on Mint 20.2 on my new desktop. Here are the specifications for my Dell Optiplex 9010:

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.15.0-73-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A Desktop: Cinnamon 5.0.7 
           wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20.2 Uma base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: Dell product: OptiPlex 9010 v: 01 serial: <filter> Chassis: 
           type: 3 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Dell model: 0W2F8G v: A01 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A29 date: 02/22/2018 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i3-3220 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ivy Bridge 
           rev: 9 L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
           flags: avx lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 26338 
           Speed: 2490 MHz min/max: 1600/3300 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3247 2: 3267 3: 3280 
           4: 3282 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor Graphics vendor: Dell 
           driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:0152 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1920x1200~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 2500 (IVB GT1) v: 4.2 Mesa 21.2.6 
           compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio vendor: Dell 
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:1e20 
           Device-2: Logitech Webcam C270 type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus ID: 2-1.6:4 
           chip ID: 046d:0825 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.15.0-73-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network vendor: Dell driver: e1000e v: kernel 
           port: f080 bus ID: 00:19.0 chip ID: 8086:1502 
           IF: eno1 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek 802.11ac NIC type: USB driver: rtl8821cu bus ID: 3-1:2 
           chip ID: 0bda:c811 
           IF: wlx60fb00644657 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 177.96 GiB used: 39.53 GiB (22.2%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD1600AAJS-40H3A0 size: 149.05 GiB 
           speed: 3.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB vendor: Memorex model: USB Flash Drive size: 28.91 GiB 
           serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 144.93 GiB used: 33.77 GiB (23.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 40.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brostrend.list 
           1: deb https: //linux.brostrend.com stable main previous
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com uma main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
           2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http: //archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:      Processes: 267 Uptime: 1h 02m Memory: 15.52 GiB used: 4.30 GiB (27.7%) Init: systemd 
           v: 245 runlevel: 5 target: graphical.target Compilers: gcc: 9.4.0 alt: 9 
           Client: Unknown python3.8 client inxi: 3.0.38 

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

[deepakdeshp]

21 will have more latest softwares. So why not? Backup and clone your 20.2 installation just in case you want to revert.

[JesseRBassett]

Sounds good to me, just wanted to confirm from someone that it is a good idea. Especially given the model of pc and all.

[AndyMH]

Think you have to upgrade to 20.3 first. That is a worthwhile change. Then take a timeshift snapshot and try the upgrade, if you don't like it you can timeshift back. Note the upgrade will only re-install software you have installed from the standard repos, if you have "foreign" packages, e.g. installed from ppa or additional repos, you will have to manually re-install those.

I'm not convinced that LM21 was much of an improvement over LM20.3.

[motoryzen]

Indeed...back it all up first. manually and timeshift snapshot..before even upgrading past 20.2 imo.

Now's the best time to really assess what you use, the software' settings ( screenshots and backing up the pictures of those to a separate drive ), do some quick searching online to confirm of the software you use works OOTB in LM 21.x version(s) or if you'll need to nuke them first and redownload/reinstall them after the fact. ..

There's always some little thing or three that may involve such detours. Nothing is perfect even in the Linux Mint world as much as I absolutely love it.

If you have the space on only one single separate drive. then you can tell Timeshift to include /home in the snapshot creation process and create that snapshot instead and save you two steps. Then follow mint's official instructions about upgrading to 20.3, test a few things to make sure they work, then following the Mint official upgrade instructions to go from 20.3 to 21.... ..this is if the easy way isn't available ( which I think by now it probably is available) in Update Manager and select View to see.

[JesseRBassett]

So I did the upgrade. Everything went smoothly. I appreciate everyone's feedback and insight. Have a good week y'all!