Re: Linux system upgrade may not be much better
Yes, in place upgrades are inherently difficult. I recently upgraded my two main PCs from Linux Mint 17.3 to 18, and I had some problems with each of them. The difference is, though, that the Linux upgrader told me exactly what the problem was, and I (an individual who has been using Linux less than two months) was able to figure out what it wanted (without Googling anything!) and get things rolling again, and the eventual result was successful, with two flawlessly running Mint 18 installations. I'm using one of them right now.
When Windows fails on an upgrade, it doesn't tell you anything, at least in my experience. Often, it just hangs, or else it reboots itself and never comes back up after POST. That's even worse than what the Linux update gave me (though I must say it was ONE Linux upgrade I did vs. many Windows ones; perhaps other distros do it differently).
Granted, a novice user would not be able to interpret the Linux error messages and fix it (I am new to Linux, but not computers, so what I had learned in the first month was enough), but then a novice would probably not be doing a Linux upgrade in-place for a point increase. The Mint devs made it very clear that this upgrade presents risk and is not for inexperienced users, and it clearly states that you should have a backup before proceeding. It's enough to scare off any novice, and it should.
MS, of course, told its users nothing of the risk or the need for a backup, even though it is just as true for Windows as for Linux.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
