Question, Re: bug 40983

[Derek Broughton]

towsonu2003 wrote:

> I agree. but a clean reinstall would be silly, only in a bugfree world
> :) when you do a dist-upgrade, there is the possibility to get stuck
> with a not-yet-fixed or even a not-yet-discovered bug. It's not like
> ubuntu undergoes the crazy testing Debian unstable undergoes.

"Crazy" being the operative word.  I've used Debian since 2.0, and I can't
say I have seen worse bugs in released Ubuntu versions than in Debian. 
What Debian never learned is that you _can't_ release a bug-free version,
and there comes a point of diminishing returns.
> 
> Hence, if the user doesn't wanna get stuck with some bugs or trash left
> by those bugs, it is better to do a clean install. 

That makes no sense.  If there are bugs in the old software, they are either
_fixed_, or not.  Installing fresh will _still_ have the same bugs in
unfixed software.

> So, to me, in this case, Windows' way (of clean installing the OS) is
> the safest and the easiest idea. If we were talking about Debian, I
> wouldn't say this. If I knew that dist-upgrade from breezy to dapper is
> tested sufficiently, I wouldn't say this either. But in Ubuntu,
> insufficient testing shows itself even in issues like leaving the root
> password around in world-readable file in plain text.
 
It happened - but if you upgrade from Breezy to Dapper, or if you install
Dapper fresh, it will make no difference - those passwords are no longer
there.  You're giving yourself a false sense of security if you think that
a fresh install will eliminate bugs.  

At various times, I've done fresh installs.  It eliminates huge piles of
cruft, but don't do it just because you think it's going to eliminate bugs.
-- 
derek