How well does the upgrade from Linux Mint to the current version work?
On my laptop I used to run Linux Mint 21.3. Version 22 is now up to date.
Now with Linux, major updates are always a problem. In the past, this sometimes didn’t work at all and meant reinstalling. Now it works, even with Linux Mint.
There is also a guide, which I have reproduced here. Some of the instructions are not very hopeful. The troubleshooting section contains tips on what we can do if the computer no longer boots. Great.
Which Linux Mint version is installed?
Firstly, let’s check which version we have installed. In Linux, the current version is often not so present. This can be done in the system report. 21.3 Virginia is installed.
Perform update
To perform the update, we need to install the update tool.
apt update apt install mintupgrade
And then start.
sudo mintupgrade
This is followed by a few steps for installation and checks. For example, I found packages from external sources that could lead to problems. These are essentially manual deb packages.
I uninstall them to be on the safe side, but it is annoying.
The update is simulated and in the next step, packages are also reported again. This time, however, I simply ignore this. If I end up undermining half of them manually, I might as well reinstall the system.
Even though it is of course nice to be warned of problems, less demanding users are likely to be more concerned. Windows also irons itself out regardless of losses.
Now the update finally started. In the application window, you can only see a spinning progress. The output takes place in the terminal. Many text messages rattle through, here and there a red one.
The process took just under an hour. At the end, we were asked to restart. Fortunately, this worked and the system started with the new version.
Conclusion
Let’s put it this way, the user experience could be even better here. You can tell that the developers are being rather cautious here. But it is annoying when packages have to be uninstalled beforehand in order to have to reinstall them later.
It’s not a Windows update after all.
