In this scenario if a user is using Debian 12 (Bookworm) and wanted to upgrade to Debian 13 (Trixie) it is possible to do by editing your /etc/apt/sources.list file and replacing Bookworm with Trixie.
Obviously consult the documentation and backup your files before making drastic changes to your operating system.
Depends wholly on the situation. Right now, I needed Windows for a piece of hardware with no Linux support, so I installed Windows and just steamrolled my earlier openSUSE Leap installation. I will now dual boot with Debian for a while until I no longer need Windows.
When switching distros, you can usually copy your config files over. Or you can have a separate /home partition that doesn’t get wiped. This can cause issues though, due to version and structural differences between distros.
Personally, I only save what I absolutely need, like say browser bookmarks, and prefer to just get a fresh start. So, I just wipe everything. How you want to go about it is up to what you feel comfortable with, however. There’s rarely any one true way to do things in Linux. Free as in Freedom.
Always remember to backup any data before switching distros though. Always.
Ok so you just wipe and reinstall all software every time? I was wondering if there was an easier way to keep everything but I guess it makes sense that Linux is just less automated and all about manual intervention so put in the work haha
For example, the suggestion to put /home on a partition to allow switching distros without data loss is an example of flexibility Windows does not have.
Most of the configuration that makes your desktop unique is held in your home directory, unlike Windows that spreads things across the system (such as the registry).
That said, if you do not know Linux, it is difficult to explain your options in a comment.
I am not sure what Windows automation you are referring to. If you mean upgrades between versions, Linux distros do that too. If you mean automatic migration from other operating systems, I am not aware of any Windows functionality for that.
No windows automation. I’ve just seen a lot of people talk about changing distros and wondered if they start fresh every time or if there’s a way to migrate like Ubuntu to Mint to Fedora while keeping programs (or maybe Ubuntu to Mint as they’re both Debian I think but can’t to Fedora maybe?).
After putting Ubuntu Studio on my laptop from Windows it’s been a bit of work to get it how I like it (and I’m loving it). I’d love to try another distro but starting over again seems like a lot of work.
From what I’ve read there’s a way to export a list of installed packages (apps) and import them into the package manager again, but I’ve never tried it. Different distros have different package managers though, so that might not work. And even if they have the same package manager some distros name the package differently, so yeah. I don’t usually switch distros, but if I did, I would definitely start afresh.
Packages and package managers differ between distros. If you are changing distros, you should not try to preserve your package list. You will need to reinstall them.
However, you can often preserve your configurations and customizations by migrating the dot files in your home directory (or the entire home directory).
This is why many people put /home on its own partition. They can then wipe and reinstall the root partition while preserving /home.
Appreciate the advice. I put Ubuntu Studio on my laptop the other day, wiping Windows completely. I was more wondering about distro to distro, I see people say they try other distros a lot and was wondering if they wipe everything each time or if there’s a way to transfer between distros?
I recommend anyone to do a backup (I haven’t always and it bit me). However, if you create separate /home partition you can keep that between re-installs, even re-installs of different distros. And you can also share the same home partition between multiple OSs you might have installed at the same time.
Sharing /home between distros can cause issues though: If one distro’s $SOFTWARE is newer that the other distro’s, they will still share the same dotfile configuration, and while most software is designed to deal with older configuration/database/etc files, older software many times cannot deal with newer files.
I’m new to Linux, do just wipe your computer when switching distros or dual boot or what?
In this scenario if a user is using Debian 12 (Bookworm) and wanted to upgrade to Debian 13 (Trixie) it is possible to do by editing your
/etc/apt/sources.listfile and replacing Bookworm with Trixie.Obviously consult the documentation and backup your files before making drastic changes to your operating system.
Depends wholly on the situation. Right now, I needed Windows for a piece of hardware with no Linux support, so I installed Windows and just steamrolled my earlier openSUSE Leap installation. I will now dual boot with Debian for a while until I no longer need Windows.
When switching distros, you can usually copy your config files over. Or you can have a separate /home partition that doesn’t get wiped. This can cause issues though, due to version and structural differences between distros.
Personally, I only save what I absolutely need, like say browser bookmarks, and prefer to just get a fresh start. So, I just wipe everything. How you want to go about it is up to what you feel comfortable with, however. There’s rarely any one true way to do things in Linux. Free as in Freedom.
Always remember to backup any data before switching distros though. Always.
Ok so you just wipe and reinstall all software every time? I was wondering if there was an easier way to keep everything but I guess it makes sense that Linux is just less automated and all about manual intervention so put in the work haha
This is not the correct take.
For example, the suggestion to put /home on a partition to allow switching distros without data loss is an example of flexibility Windows does not have.
Most of the configuration that makes your desktop unique is held in your home directory, unlike Windows that spreads things across the system (such as the registry).
That said, if you do not know Linux, it is difficult to explain your options in a comment.
I am not sure what Windows automation you are referring to. If you mean upgrades between versions, Linux distros do that too. If you mean automatic migration from other operating systems, I am not aware of any Windows functionality for that.
No windows automation. I’ve just seen a lot of people talk about changing distros and wondered if they start fresh every time or if there’s a way to migrate like Ubuntu to Mint to Fedora while keeping programs (or maybe Ubuntu to Mint as they’re both Debian I think but can’t to Fedora maybe?).
After putting Ubuntu Studio on my laptop from Windows it’s been a bit of work to get it how I like it (and I’m loving it). I’d love to try another distro but starting over again seems like a lot of work.
From what I’ve read there’s a way to export a list of installed packages (apps) and import them into the package manager again, but I’ve never tried it. Different distros have different package managers though, so that might not work. And even if they have the same package manager some distros name the package differently, so yeah. I don’t usually switch distros, but if I did, I would definitely start afresh.
Packages and package managers differ between distros. If you are changing distros, you should not try to preserve your package list. You will need to reinstall them.
However, you can often preserve your configurations and customizations by migrating the dot files in your home directory (or the entire home directory).
This is why many people put /home on its own partition. They can then wipe and reinstall the root partition while preserving /home.
I HIGHLY recommend backing everything you give a fuck about and wiping the disk clean. Because windows breaks linux.
Before you look at a list of distros and wonder which one to install, choose if you are __:
Arch Linux -> if you think you know how linux exactly works (likely not)
Arch-based distros (CachyOS, EndeavourOS, etc.) -> If you want to use arch but with some help
Linux Mint -> Recommended for beginners.
Fedora -> It just works :tm:
Debian -> ol’ reliable
openSUSE -> If you tweaked windows
Atomic Distros -> if you want a system that you can’t break
Or if you want to be forced to learn how Linux exactly works lol
Appreciate the advice. I put Ubuntu Studio on my laptop the other day, wiping Windows completely. I was more wondering about distro to distro, I see people say they try other distros a lot and was wondering if they wipe everything each time or if there’s a way to transfer between distros?
I recommend anyone to do a backup (I haven’t always and it bit me). However, if you create separate /home partition you can keep that between re-installs, even re-installs of different distros. And you can also share the same home partition between multiple OSs you might have installed at the same time.
Sharing /home between distros can cause issues though: If one distro’s $SOFTWARE is newer that the other distro’s, they will still share the same dotfile configuration, and while most software is designed to deal with older configuration/database/etc files, older software many times cannot deal with newer files.