Hi, I’ve been running linux mint for a couple years now, but I’m still a complete noob, every time I need to install an app or I need to go through a bunch of tutorial. Always found a way through though. Anyway, I’m currently running Mint 20.3 Una, and the System Reports suggest I upgrade to Mint 21 Vanessa. I would like to do so, but I have a couple questions for you: 1/ My USB ports don’t work, so I can’t make a backup of my system this way (and don’t feel comfortable hosting a backup on the cloud since I’m currently using Proton and still have to move to another service). So I’m wondering if an upgrade is safe because I can’t do a fresh install right now? 2/ Related to the first question: I’m using a old laptop (asus zenbook from 2015 or 2016, can’t remember), so would I be find with an old hardware such as mine?
Cheers
It’s possible for an upgrade to break things and leave your system in an unusable state or cause your data to be lost.
However, that could happen at any time with no warning. Your hard drive could break, your charger could cause a short, your laptop could get stolen. If you have any files you don’t want to lose, I’d strongly recommend you set up a backup asap.
In terms of whether to actually upgrade, Mint 20.3 stops receiving security updates in April so you should probably upgrade to 21 sometime before then.
Thank you for your reply, the end of security updates is one of my main concerns indeed