My 20.04 LTS is rock solid. Should I go to 22.04 LTS just for the bells & whistles?

[kevdog]

@John Nagle

Not sure how to explain your problems however don't confuse decisions with how Ubuntu has implemented things with "Linux". You'll definitely have different experiences on other Linux Versions.

[ozark_hillbilly]

Thanks for sharing your perspective.
I am running Kernal 5.15.0-91-generic.

I really think waiting on LTS 24 is my choice for now.

cheers.....

[ozark_hillbilly]

I am a Ubuntu "virgin" never having usied anything else over these 15 years or so.
My current system is 12 years old hardware wise so I may entertain trying a different Linux flavor
on a new build. There are so many out there that deciding on a specific platform is daunting for
someone like me who has a limited grasp of navigating inside Linux. I know just enough to
be a danger to myself. lol....

cheers....

[agentl074]

I'd wait for 24.04. They've fixed the app store and it's going to be lighter on resources -- based on 23.10 metrics.

[oldfred]

Also if 12 year old system, it is either the last of the old BIOS systems or an early UEFI system which often had its own issues, both UEFI from vendor & Linux.

You may want to consider a lighterweight flavor.
I happen to like Kubuntu which is more a mid-weight flavor but has worked on both my 2006 laptop and new 11th Gen Intel laptop.
I also find old system works a lot better using a SSD.

[NormanFLinux]

You're going to break something with new packages. If your current configuration works for you, disable LTS updates. There's no need to upgrade unless you need something you don't currently have.
At some point your Ubuntu LTS 20.04 will be EOL but that shouldn't matter; lots of people run such an OS on their PC.

[TheFu]

For me, the only reasons to move to a new release are:
* Some application very important to me stops working. Most of the time, that is a program that connects to an internet/network service that was upgraded. If an application isn't important, I'll probably live without it.
* Standard Support is going to end for the release in the next few months, typically 3-6 months. I always want to be on a supported release to get security updates. Always.
* For some special use systems, they do one thing and that 1 thing is a very standard capability - like a VPN server. I'll usually wait until the .1 release, then create a new virtual machine and install a fresh OS + the VPN onto it. That's an easy way to see the "new" and get a feel for simple, normal, things, without too much risk.

I never let "new" get me too excited to force a change from "proven" without very, very, good reasons.

BTW, some 20.04 DEs lost support about a year ago, so it is only the Gnome version that is still supported. If you are using 20.04 with LXQt, XFCE, Mate, .... those are all unsupported (no patches). THAT would be good reason to move to 22.04.

[DuckHook]

You're going to break something with new packages. If your current configuration works for you, disable LTS updates. There's no need to upgrade unless you need something you don't currently have.
At some point your Ubuntu LTS 20.04 will be EOL but that shouldn't matter; lots of people run such an OS on their PC.

Frankly, this is bad, scary advice. It's one thing to say: "sign up for Pro for another 5 years of support and stick with what is stable", which is good advice.

But ignoring EoL is not only dangerous but irresponsible. Those "lots of people" running "unsupported OSes on their PC" are the ones making up most of the bot farms, malware relays and C&C servers that infest our shared computing commons.

Anyone running EoL OSes is just asking for trouble, whether it's Linux or one of the proprietary ones. If they only endangered themselves, it would be only their problem, but they are a menace to computing in general which makes it very much the business of the rest of us.

[lammert-nijhof]

Agree I run Ubuntu 16.04 ESM (Extended Security Maintenance part of Ubuntu Pro) and I get updates till 2026. I would not move to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS soon, wait till 24.04.1 is released. I don't have a high confidence in 24.04 in the coming period, I run in strange issues with the Development Edition, more than in the past. .
You could also try Ubuntu 24.04 LTS in a Virtual Machine, if you have no experience with Virtual Machines I would suggest to use Boxes or Virtualbox. Both have a user friendly interface and are more easy to use than QEMU/KVM.