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I have multiple times had the system become unbootable on Ubuntu after installing updates. Sometimes GRUB-settings have been corrupted, sometimes kernel modules were missing and so on. Especially upgrading from one Ubuntu - release to the next tends to be really hit and miss.

Not meant as a response to your post specifically but it is good as any to reply: I just HATE that Ubuntu and Linux are lumped together even among geeks these days!

I have been using Debian Testing and Sid on my machines continuously upgrading them for the last several years and, with the occasional exception of Sid (where some level of breakage is actually expected even though it works better than most "stable" releases of some popular distros IMNSHO) I have yet to break these systems to the point that a full reinstall should be even considered.

Despite its Debian heritage, Ubuntu has never done very well on the upgrade department. I realize that there are several cases of people managing to get a working Ubuntu system after a full upgrade but these are the exception rather than the norm. Distro upgrades are strongly discouraged in Ubuntu-land.

Linux CAN be upgraded to the latest and greatest with little or no effort; Ubuntu can be upgraded under certain circumstances or maybe not at all (and I am not even sure it was ever meant to).

I am looking forward for the day that pundits will finally stop measuring Linux achievements and/or failures based on whatever Ubuntu is doing at the time.

In our case, the one we know better: we use Kubuntu for the desktop and not Ubuntu. We just use Ubuntu in their server version. It hasn't break when updating (we just do regular updates).

We don't update from one version to another (like from 10.04 to 10.10, it's not a very good idea, in my humble opinion), we have at least two partitions in each computer, because we install (we always do a clean install) in one partition, while keeping the old one (just in case we need the old version meanwhile).

I've had one Linux install corrupted by a patch push in the past 12 years (in no way questioning your experience, you understand). I wonder why our experiences vary so much. I guess that's why we use YMMV so much. :-)

However, I never upgrade major versions of an OS - I always clean install, which means I always use a separate partition for my data. This is true of every device I own regardless of OS, btw, including Windows.

I use Kubuntu 11.04 (when I have more time, I will try other versions) in my computers and some friends also use it, and we update it and it doesn't break. Ubuntu server doesn't break either in the servers that I manage. And those computers don't have problems with sound and video. By the way, ZaReason sells laptops and other computers with Kubuntu preinstalled and working, if someone does not want to install it. "

WorksForMe(TM)

FYI I'm not new to operating systems so don't give me the Linux shill job. Find me a distro from 3 years ago that can update itself along with OpenOffice, Firefox and Flash to the latest versions without needing the command line. You won't be able to.



I would describe most of the users here as pro-open source and yet most run Windows. The fact that most run Windows but only 8% use IE speaks volumes. They are aware of software alternatives. I doubt even Linux.com has a majority of Linux visitors.

As I wrote, Kubuntu in the desktop works for me, my friends and the laptops and other computers sold by ZaReason. I even left a VirtualBox Machine image in https://minus.com/mX2I0UnLl/1f
If you want to try to update it, you'll see how it does not break. Yes, you can update there OpenOffice, Firefox and Flash to the latest versions without needing the command line.

> > > geeks don't want Linux on the desktop

> > Ah, and that's being told just there, in OSNews. Readers can look at data if they want to know:

> I would describe most of the users here as pro-open source and yet most run Windows. [...] I doubt even Linux.com has a majority of Linux visitors.

I was answering about the "geeks don't want Linux on the desktop" sentence. The stats, of the operating systems of the visitors of OsNews, showed almost 30% of them using Linux on their desktops. At least a 30%, knowing that when people are working, a lot of them can not choose :-( another operating system than Windows.