this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2026
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Why does Mint not auto update major versions? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 weeks ago by halloween_spookster@lemmy.world to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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I've been wondering why Mint doesn't seem to have an automatic major version upgrade built in? For those that have an opinion, do you agree with not having this? Why/why not?

I've been running Mint 21 for over a year now. I started using it not long before Mint 22 came out and have been dragging my feet on upgrading in fear of breaking something and having to reinstall (and losing something in the process). I'm in the process of setting up proper backups so I'll probably do it after those are set up (or maybe wait until Mint 23).

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[–] FrostyPolicy@suppo.fi 52 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

You answer your question yourself with

in fear of breaking something and having to reinstall (and losing something in the process)

Version upgrades are a big thing and unexpected things can happen. Would you be a happy user if the system auto updated to the next version and something truly broke? By forcing manual upgrade they can better inform users about possible unexpected things, and e.g. advice to do backups first. Thus users would be more prepared for this. Also version upgrades take a lot longer time than normal updates since it has update all packages, do other changes to the system etc.

[–] BootLoop@sh.itjust.works 18 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I don't think there's any versioned Linux distros that do automatic major version updates. Only rolling release distros like Arch.

[–] halet@programming.dev 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

FWIW, some (perhaps even most/all) uBlue derivatives actually do automatic major version updates. Though, thanks to the bootc-model, they're dealing with a whole lot less state(/moving parts); hence smooth updates are somewhat expected. The built-in rollback functionality doesn't hurt either.

[–] kumi@feddit.online 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The built-in rollback functionality doesn’t hurt either.

More than that I think it's a prerequisite for doing this.

[–] halet@programming.dev 1 points 2 weeks ago

You might be absolutely correct on that.

Though, I do wonder what would prevent a stateless system accompanied by a healthy dose of integrity tests from pulling this off.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Or rolling like Tumbleweed

[–] LeFantome@programming.dev 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Not sure why the downvote, other than that they specified “versioned” (not rolling).

All rolling distros obviously auto-upgrade by definition.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah not sure, and tumbleweed is "versioned" in a way you get a discrete/prescribed set of updates when the dated build is ready...you can always update packages out of sync with the distribution upgrade I guess

[–] b_tr3e@feddit.org 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Debian has been doing so since forever without breaking. I tried Mint when it was the latest shit on a new laptop and was quite fond of it. Until it was time to update. I chose to upgrade - to plain, old Debian that had been running on my servers, workstations and PCs since 2002 and still does. How a Debian-derived distro could fuck up the one thing that makes Deian stand out -the nearly unbreakable packet management system- still is beyond my understanding.

[–] BootLoop@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Debian does not do major distro version upgrades automatically. You need to run dist-upgrade to go ahead a major release.

[–] b_tr3e@feddit.org 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Sure. But MInt doesn't do dist-.upgrade at all. Or it didn't when I tried some years ago. IDK what the situation is now, but then Mint's FAQ said you'd have to do a fresh install.

[–] LeFantome@programming.dev 6 points 2 weeks ago

Yes, they do, via the mintupgrade tool.

[–] mactan@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I don't think I've ever had a debian major upgrade go well. always easier to reinstall, but the stakes are so low on my own devices

[–] b_tr3e@feddit.org 3 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

You should be proud of yourself. I've never seen dist-upgrade go wrong since woody - and I've upgraded quite a few machines. Did you ever bother reading the release notes for a new major version?

[–] Peffse@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

I'm a happy middleground. I've had two upgrades blow up on me, out of the tens I've done.

One was a usrmerge catch-22. It wouldn't let me install the package during upgrade, but also wouldn't let me complete the upgrade without the merger finishing. Ended up reverting the install and running the merge prior to upgrade.

The second failure was just... I have no idea what I did wrong. Some commands stopped working. Then I lost SSH. Then it wouldn't even boot. I had to do a full reinstall and rebuild. Not happy times.

Overall, it was just enough failure that I routinely run two backups prior to upgrades now. hahaha

[–] non_burglar@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

I had some friction with Jessie to stretch and a little again from bookworm to Trixie. Nothing I couldn't solve, but there are still a few edge cases that aren't handled.

[–] limelight79@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Funny that's how my Slackware upgrades always went, but I've had a great experience with Debian every time.

[–] mech@feddit.org 1 points 2 weeks ago

Do you follow the step-by-step docs or just yolo it?

[–] Nibodhika@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

That would make Mint unstable. That is exactly what unstable means in Linux context. There are debian based rolling-release distros, including Debian Sid. This is one of the reasons people choose Arch, because it's a rolling release you never have to worry about version.

There's a good chance you might break stuff by upgrading major version like you fear, and that's why it doesn't happen automatically. That being said it should be safe, but good on you to prepare backups.

[–] Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 weeks ago

version upgrades might change major things so its not pushed onto everybody. if you want a single thing based in rolling updates, thats basically the Arch model. the thing with rolling updates of course is being on the bleeding edge means things also break easier.

[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 1 points 1 week ago

Another aspect is that re-installing systems every few years prevents them from becoming messy. You can tidy your system up yourself if you know what you do, and keep detailed record of changes, but most people don't do that.

[–] adarza@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

any upgrade or update can 'break' something.

mint does have an upgrade path from one major version to the next. the upgrade tool might not be available immediately upon the release of the next version, but in your case it has been around awhile.

https://linuxmint-user-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/upgrade-to-mint-22.html

backups are, of course, your responsibility, as is any unexpected manual customizations or software added from outside mint repositories.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

Upgrades between major versions - since they can be radically different - is generally not an effective feature.

Having said that, conectiva's apt-rpm could upgrade and downgrade between major versions; and it worked really well!