How do I upgrade from Jessie to Buster without reinstalling all my software?

[Linux for blind general discussion]

Well John, I suppose you could comment out items in your sources.list file and 
paste in the newer lists, including any security updates. Then you would run an
apt update
and
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
If you were to visit
packages.debian.org
and look in the instructions for Buster or Stretch. Hope that helps
Chime