Mint Upgrade notice

[ssfc72]

I have been getting pestered with an upgrade notice to Mint 20.3, for the last 2 days.  I don't normally upgrade unless I have a good reason to do so, but this is the first time since I started using Mint, that I got a specific notice asking me if I want to upgrade. 

[fox]

I didn't get the notice, but the option to upgrade finally appeared in Mint Update. I upgraded. The upgrade was routine and nothing went wrong. The new 20.3 has a few new features. The one that interested me is Notes. It's just like the Mac application and I find it very useful to be able to put a coloured sticky note on the desktop.

Incidentally, my Mint distro is on an external SSD (Samsung T7), along with Manjaro. When the T7 is plugged into the Thunderbolt port, those distros won't start up half the time. I think that the issue is that the bootloader doesn't always recognize the drive when it's in that port. If I plug the T7 into a USB3 port, there is never a startup problem.

[Jason]

I think I recall them giving notice of an upgrade but I don't remember if it happened multiple times. However, I believe this is a feature you can turn off. The Mint Update app should have an area for choosing what updates you want and probably notification of new upgrades.

You can also check on your program menu for a program called 'Software and Updates' that might let you change that. I think you'd change it to only be notified of LTS releases for upgrading. The reason why you'd choose that option is below.

Every full increment of Linux Mint is based on a Ubuntu LTS version (20.04 was the most recent). Each decimal point is based on the in-between versions. So version 20 is based on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. And 20.3 means it's based on 21.10. The next release should be Linux Mint 21, I believe. And it'll be based on the coming 22.04 LTS.

Anyway, if you can find that setting, see if it's set to being notified of LTS releases. If no, change it to that and see if it works.

[buster]

Just checked Marilyn's Mint and it's 20.2. Never think about it or check. When it shows an upgrade is available, I just do it. They seem to handle updates well.

[Jason]

I seem to recall that Bill found an earlier release of Mint worked better for some application or maybe hardware that he was using. So sometimes you can't just upgrade. Regardless, with any upgrade of an OS, it's a good idea to make sure it supports what you have. Unless you're planning to replace whatever isn't compatible.

I know I probably sound like a broken record but this is a good reason to use Timeshift (which just works with Linux). You can do the upgrade and if it doesn't work for what you want, you can roll it back easily using Timeshift.

[buster]

Timeshift is running, but it's recording within Mint. A broken update that wont boot would be a problem. Minor stuff can be fixed otherwise. Also there is the magical new install without formatting /home which may work.

Not much on it to worry about anyway. Life's too short to prepare for everything.

[Jason]

My comment about Timeshift was directed at Bill. I seem to recall a specific reason he didn't want to upgrade so just suggesting that Timeshift would make it easy to try it without risking anything.

And you can use Timeshift to restore a previous image even if your system won't boot. You just use a flash drive with a Linux distro on it that includes Timeshift (like Mint).

Let me reiterate, as the author does, that Timeshift is for backing up the system, not your personal data (i.e. home). If anyone wonders why that is the case, I can explain further.

What's neat is that you can even use it to install a new distro over another and then restore the snapshot to the previous distro! Just be careful in that case that you do have /home backed up or on a separate partition. It can save a lot of time for "that guy" who often tries a new distro and decides it sucks and wants to go back.

"Life's too short to prepare for everything."

If life's too short, then why spend it re-installing broken systems when you could get restore a previous snapshot in a few minutes? I've actually broken my system, not seriously but enough that I wished I could go back in time and just pretend it never happened. Snap my fingers and it's done!

[buster]

"And you use Timeshift to restore a previous image even if your system won't boot. You just use a flash drive with a Linux distro on it that includes Timeshift."

Well that's cool.

[buster]

Marilyn's computer got the 20.3 notice today. As with Dr Mike, the upgrade was simple and uneventful. Goes to 2025 apparently.

Mint Rules!

[buster]

Also applied 'apt install usrmerge' if anyone cares, though I have a feeling I did that on the last upgrade. So far OK.

[Jason]

After I got over the shock of Buster using the terminal for something (what? no graphical substitute?), I looked into what this was. Admit it, Buster, you have to use the command-line for some things, but maybe not this... read on.

I hadn't heard of usrmerge so I looked it up. Btw, I don't think you've had to do that for quite a while. It's for older setups. But if you've been upgrading Mint for years, then you might have had to do it once but not every time you upgrade. But it's easy to check before you install it. Run the following command and see if you have the same (or at least close) to my root (/) layout.

Code Select Expand

ls -a /

You're looking to see if directories like /bin, /sbin and so on, actually point to /usr/bin, etc.

Some quick research revealed the purpose of usrmerge. It's for compatibility. Some tools (system-level programs) used to be /bin and some were in /usr/bin. The system layout has been adjusted so that all the tools have been moved to /usr/bin. That's why the name of the package is usrmerge and it's what it does.

Now, if they had just transferred the tools in /bin to /usr/bin then scripts that were hardcoded to expect stuff in /bin would have broken. So now there's a pointer so that whenever a tool in /bin is referred to, the appropriate tool in it's new location in  /usr/bin is called up. The same goes for other tools that were in /sbin, /lib, and so on.

In any case, the command you mentioned doesn't do anything other than installing the package usrmerge. You have to run the command for it to do anything.  As Buster helpfully corrected me on, installing the package, in this case, runs it (i.e. does the merge and creates the symlinks). Weird.

But I doubt you'd need to install/use usrmerge. I could be wrong; there's always a first time. Or a second, and a third, and a 100th.

[buster]

From the Mint forums themselves : "You don't need to do anything other than install the package usrmerge. As the instructions say, just run the command apt install usrmerge and that installs it. The package does everything on its own. There's no other command to run.

Just noting that Mr Smartypants on our forum wrote : "In any case, the command you mentioned doesn't do anything other than installing the package usrmerge. You have to run the command for it to do anything."

[Jason]

I didn't believe you at first so I looked it up. You can understand why I thought that, though? Generally, the installation of a package does NOT run it. But you're correct so I appreciate you letting me know. I learned something.

It does seem like a bad idea to run a program you're merely installing but the developers must know something I don't or just that it's not big of a deal as it won't break anything else.

As I mentioned, you don't really need to worry about if this post on Linux Forums is accurate. It says that the filesystem has already been changed since 20.1. So Mr. Smartypants got that right.

[Jason]

I have been getting pestered with an upgrade notice to Mint 20.3, for the last 2 days.  I don't normally upgrade unless I have a good reason to do so, but this is the first time since I started using Mint, that I got a specific notice asking me if I want to upgrade.

Were you able to find how to turn off these notifications in the Mint Update tool or Software Sources? Or are you even getting them anymore?

[ssfc72]

There is now, just an new System Reports icon, next to the Update icon, on the Tool Bar, that  when I click on it, says there is a new version of Mint. It has an icon button to start the upgrade. This is does not annoy me, so I just ignore it.