Does FC really recommends Re-install instead of upgrade?

[Simon Andrews]

Mustafa Qasim wrote:
> Hello!
> Is it just a myth or really people frequently face problems in 
> upgrading FC so they just re-install it.

It's probably true to say that some people experience problems after 
upgrading, and that some of them choose to fix those by reinstalling. 
I'd probably also say that the vast majority of people who upgrade a 
working system still have a working system after the updgrade, and that 
most of the problems people encounter after upgrading could be fairly 
easily fixed without a reinstall.


> In some other Linux list one 
> said that Fedora recommends to Re-install instead of upgrade. Is it 
> true? . And what is the ratio and most common reasons that cause the 
> problems people face while upgrading FC to new release.

Upgrading is officially supported by Fedora for up to 2 releases apart 
(ie F6 to F8 is supported, F5 to F8 isn't although it may still work). 
As of F9 I belive a live yum upgrade of a running system is also supported.

Many people consider a reinstall to be a cleaner option, and if you 
don't have many customisations to a stock install and you can easily 
restore your own data/documents then it's probably a good way to update.


> Well for me I haven't tried upgrade I just reinstall FC but now i'll try 
> to upgrade and see if I encounter any problems.

As long as you have a good backup of all your important data before 
attempting any major system change you've not really got anything to 
loose.  I've probably done somewhere over 50 upgrades of systems running 
Fedora and have never had anything more than minor problems to sort out.

If you do have problems then come back to the list for help, or file 
bugs on bugzilla to make sure things get fixed for others in future.

Good luck

Simon.