On Sun, 14 May 2017 20:39:25 +0100
KatolaZ <katolaz@???> wrote:

> On Sun, May 14, 2017 at 11:49:14AM -0400, Steve Litt wrote:
>
> [cut]
>
> >
> > No it doesn't. apt get dist-upgrade must pay attention to your
> > current config files, some of which might have been constructed
> > four major versions ago and have little current relevance. After
> > dist-upgrade, you're very likely to have ghosts of versions past.
> > That's why I clean install: I'm an elder in the Church of the Known
> > State.
>
> dpkg never removes modified config files automatically.

Which is precisely my point. A lot of times, I want to get the config
files that go with the new software, and modify them if necessary
(usually not necessary, or a very minor mod on my part).

> If your
> current file is different from the one provided with the standard
> package, you are always asked what you want to do with it.
>
> > Listen, if you want to use apt get dist upgrade, that's fine. You're
> > the kind of person that option was made for. But please don't
> > denegrate the positions of people who won't dist upgrade, and
> > please don't suggest (as someone else did earlier in this thread)
> > that dist upgrade should be considered due diligence before
> > submitting a bug.
>
> Joel suggested that "apt-get upgrade" (note the absence of "dist")
> would be advisable before submitting a bug for a distro that is
> undergoing some heavy change (as happened to jessie, and as usually
> happens for a testing branch), and that is actually a good suggestion,

You're right. He specified just "upgrade" except when using unstable,
in which case the whole "known state" thing is of secondary importance.
And I agree with both you and he that for stable and testing, apt-get
update and apt-get upgrade should be done before reporting a bug.

[snip]

> Nobody has denigrated anybody else :)

The word "myth" was used. Sounds like denigration to me.

> Several people have simply
> reported that your fears might be somehow unjustified,

Or might not be unjustified.

> but nobody has
> offended or insulted who does believe otherwise.

When a guy uses Emacs instead of Vim, I don't talk about the "myth"
that Emacs is better. I just mention I'm a Vim guy.

Perhaps not in De**an, but in other distros, I've seen things go to
hell in a handbasket when trying to upgrade to the next major version.
For that matter, I've seen things go to hell in a handbasket when I go
a couple years between reinstalls. Bit rot sets in to the point where
it's easier for me to lay down a clean new install than to hunt down
all the little wierdities that have accumulated over several
versions of config files. Perhaps others don't have these things happen
to them, but I do, so I reinstall. I don't tell others to follow in my
footsteps, but when the subject of apt-get dist-upgrade came up, I just
mentioned how I handle major versions.

SteveT

Steve Litt
May 2017 featured book: Twenty Eight Tales of Troubleshooting
http://www.troubleshooters.com/28