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I am using Ubuntu 12.04 right now. If I use the command sudo apt-get dist-upgrade will that upgrade my Ubuntu to 12.10? Does that mean I won't be using the LTS version after that? I don't want to use Ubuntu 12.10 because I've already tried it and it's very heavy for my netbook.

Zanna
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albilaga
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4 Answers4

191

You can read the man-page of apt-get to see what each command do.

Open the manual 

man apt-get

Find the section dist-upgrade and read

dist-upgrade 

       in addition to performing the function of upgrade,
       also intelligently handles changing dependencies with new versions
       of packages; apt-get has a "smart" conflict resolution system, and
       it will attempt to upgrade the most important packages at the
       expense of less important ones if necessary. So, dist-upgrade
       command may remove some packages. The /etc/apt/sources.list file
       contains a list of locations from which to retrieve desired package
       files. See also apt_preferences(5) for a mechanism for overriding
       the general settings for individual packages

See also: What is “dist-upgrade” and why does it upgrade more than “upgrade”?

In order to upgrade Ubuntu to a newer release you have to run in terminal

sudo do-release-upgrade

We read from the man-page 

man do-release-upgrade

DESCRIPTION

Upgrade the operating system to the latest release from the command-line. This is the preferred command if the machine has no graphic environment or if the machine is to be upgraded over a remote connection

Community
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NickTux
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101

No, sudo apt-get dist-upgrade will not upgrade to a new Ubuntu release. It will just install available updates for the Ubuntu release you already have installed.

Unlike sudo apt-get upgrade it may install new packages or remove installed packages if that is necessary to satisfy dependencies. So be careful when using it.

Florian Diesch
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10

If you do not want to upgrade to non-LTS versions, follow these steps:

  • Open Ubuntu Software Center.

  • Go to Edit -> Software Sources.

  • Go to the Updates tab and make sure you have selected For long-term support versions in the Notify of a new Ubuntu version.

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  • Open a terminal and run sudo apt-get update (just to be sure :) ).

  • Now, when you run sudo apt-get dist-upgrade it'd be upgraded to the next LTS version and not non-LTS versions.

green
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8

you cannot jump from 12.04 to 13.04 directly you would have to have update manger set to normal then do 

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

or

sudo do-release-upgrade

the difference between the commands is that dist-upgrade wants you to change your config files during the upgrade

they both will upgrade your dist when the time comes sudo apt-get upgrade only upgrades the software on your system it does not install or remove packages like dist-upgrade.

Avinash Raj
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user112609
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