Written by turbolad the 8 Nov 10 at 12:01.

I'm not aware of anyone else posting this idea: when upgrading Ubuntu, the update installer could delete everything where Ubuntu is installed EXCEPT for the /home folder and its contents (alternatively, if it were possible to create a partition for /home which could automatically grow when its free space runs low, this would allow clean installs every time the user upgrades).

Now the upgrade can cleanly install everything fresh.

I'm not aware of anyone else posting this idea: when upgrading Ubuntu, the update installer could delete everything where Ubuntu is installed EXCEPT for the /home folder and its contents (alternatively, if it were possible to create a partition for /home which could automatically grow when its free space runs low, this would allow clean installs every time the user upgrades). Now the upgrade can cleanly install everything fresh.

Written by R33D3M33R the 9 Nov 10 at 12:02.

Installer can download all packages as it does now. But then it does not install them right away. Instead, it lets the user to choose some kind of Demo mode.

The Demo mode could be Wubi/LiveCD like enviroment, that would let the user to test hardware and software. After testing, he could close the Demo mode and continue upgrading or stop the install.

The Demo mode should also be deselected by default.

This Demo mode would eliminate the need to burn CD/DVD or create USB keys before install and save Ubuntu servers bandwidth, as components would be downloaded only once.

Installer can download all packages as it does now. But then it does not install them right away. Instead, it lets the user to choose some kind of Demo mode. The Demo mode could be Wubi/LiveCD like enviroment, that would let the user to test hardware and software. After testing, he could close the Demo mode and continue upgrading or stop the install. The Demo mode should also be deselected by default. This Demo mode would eliminate the need to burn CD/DVD or create USB keys before install and save Ubuntu servers bandwidth, as components would be downloaded only once.

Written by turbolad the 12 Nov 10 at 11:33.

A combination of solutions #1 and #2. The upgrade can run in a similar manner to a Wubi or "live" mode for testing without installing. Users can test everything works (see comments), with a notification that the "live" mode runs slower compared to when it's actually installed.

The clean install method will ensure no "old" data gets left behind and everything gets installed fresh.

Hopefully this combination will put and end to the upgrade problems people often experience when upgrading to a newer version of Ubuntu.

A combination of solutions #1 and #2. The upgrade can run in a similar manner to a Wubi or "live" mode for testing without installing. Users can test everything works (see comments), with a notification that the "live" mode runs slower compared to when it's actually installed. The clean install method will ensure no "old" data gets left behind and everything gets installed fresh. Hopefully this combination will put and end to the upgrade problems people often experience when upgrading to a newer version of Ubuntu.

Written by Mailaender the 13 Nov 10 at 15:21.

The /home folder could be backed up to UbuntuOne / WebDAV / FTP or CD/DVD / external hard drives. There might be a one click solution for it before dist-upgrade starts.

The /home folder could be backed up to UbuntuOne / WebDAV / FTP or CD/DVD / external hard drives. There might be a one click solution for it before dist-upgrade starts.

Written by TwistedLincoln the 15 Nov 10 at 23:35.

The LiveCD's installer (ubiquity) allows you to install Ubuntu over the top of itself by selecting manual partitioning, and not choosing to format the root partition. It will then do a fresh install, but keep /home intact.

The installer should allow an "upgrade" choice that does this automatically without the user needing to go through the manual partitioning steps.

The LiveCD's installer (ubiquity) allows you to install Ubuntu over the top of itself by selecting manual partitioning, and not choosing to format the root partition. It will then do a fresh install, but keep /home intact. The installer should allow an "upgrade" choice that does this automatically without the user needing to go through the manual partitioning steps.

Written by captnfab the 17 Nov 10 at 09:39.

The installer should create a /home partition during installation.

It would then be really easy to upgrade / reinstall Ubuntu (or even any other Linux distro) without any data loss (except for /etc configuration)

The installer should create a /home partition during installation. It would then be really easy to upgrade / reinstall Ubuntu (or even any other Linux distro) without any data loss (except for /etc configuration)

Written by turbolad the 5 Jul 10 at 16:45.

Having installed Ubuntu, you install the updates and (nearly always) reboot. Instead of waiting about 15 minutes, why not show these updates (don't minimise) and include a notice that strongly recommends downloading and installing them for security reasons and to allow new software to be installed from updated repositories.

Having installed Ubuntu, you install the updates and (nearly always) reboot. Instead of waiting about 15 minutes, why not show these updates (don't minimise) and include a notice that strongly recommends downloading and installing them for security reasons and to allow new software to be installed from updated repositories.

Written by turbolad the 1 Dec 10 at 20:59.

When installing Ubuntu, offer to install the updates during installation.
This could allow the user to let the installer do the hard work.

When installing Ubuntu, offer to install the updates during installation. This could allow the user to let the installer do the hard work.

Written by Sonsum the 26 Mar 09 at 04:14.

Put an option in the update manager to turn the computer off after the update is complete.

Make sure to notify the user that this will answer yes to all non-dangerous prompts that would occur during the install. Many new users would not have system tweaks that they would worry about being overwritten.

Put an option in the update manager to turn the computer off after the update is complete. Make sure to notify the user that this will answer yes to all non-dangerous prompts that would occur during the install. Many new users would not have system tweaks that they would worry about being overwritten.

Written by Felix_the_Mac the 29 Feb 08 at 23:16.

Update Manager should analyse the dependencies in packages which need updating and download the packages with no dependencies first (that is no dependencies on packages which themselves need updating), followed by files which only depended on the first package downloaded etc.

This will allow updates to be installed in parallel - as soon as the first package is downloaded it can be installed.

Update Manager should analyse the dependencies in packages which need updating and download the packages with no dependencies first (that is no dependencies on packages which themselves need updating), followed by files which only depended on the first package downloaded etc. This will allow updates to be installed in parallel - as soon as the first package is downloaded it can be installed.