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This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Official Ubuntu Book, The, 7th EditionOfficial Ubuntu Book, The, 7th Edition

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This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Official Ubuntu Book, The, 7th EditionOfficial Ubuntu Book, The, 7th Edition

Learn More Buy

Upgrading to the Next Ubuntu Release

One of the original goals for Ubuntu was to have frequent releases, and with only one notable exception (the 6.06 LTS release, which was delayed by two months), there have been six months between each release since 4.10.

This book has been revised for the latest version—12.04—but another release will be along soon. Release 12.04, like the earlier 10.04, 8.04, and 6.06, is a Long Term Support (LTS) version of Ubuntu, supported for three years on the desktop and five on the server.

All other versions, such as 11.10, are supported for eighteen months and at the same time are superseded by a new version every six months. Essentially, if you are running the LTS version, you might not be too interested in moving to the latest and greatest until the next LTS version comes out, but if you are running a regular release version, you might be the sort of person who is more interested in the latest and greatest software updates. In either case, this is how you perform the upgrade.

Tip

All Ubuntu releases are intended to be stable. The LTS releases are intended to be extra stable, as they represent the culmination of two years of planning and feature changes. The intermediate releases will include incremental changes that are stable but that may not be feature-complete. For example, the Unity desktop was first released in 10.10, the first release after 10.04 LTS, but its features became more complete and development more mature for 12.04 LTS.

Doing the Actual Upgrade

A graphical tool called Update Manager tells you when a new version of Ubuntu is available and walks you through the upgrade process. Note that if you already know or want to learn the manual method, that is fine too. Both means will achieve the same result.

When a new release is available, Update Manager alerts you, as in Figure 3-19. All you need to do is click on the Upgrade button to start the process. You are first shown the release notes, which mention new features or any outstanding bugs. After you click on the Upgrade button on this screen, the necessary changes to your software repositories are made, and then the program downloads and installs the new distribution. You may be prompted if you have changed any configuration files. After the actual installation is complete, you are told which, if any, packages are no longer officially supported by Ubuntu (have moved to the universe repository). Last, all you need to do is restart your computer when prompted, and you will begin enjoying the new release.

Figure 3-19 Upgrading from Ubuntu 11.10 using Update Manager and an Internet connection

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