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I effortlessly installed QGIS 2.4 and upgraded to 2.6, for my Linux Mint 16, because I just had to put http://qgis.org/debian in my repositories list and note that my distro was saucy.

2.8 has been out for some time now, and QGIS nicely updated to the new version for several different debian distros, but...not saucy.

I cannot figure out how to e-mail whatever volunteers do this and ask for saucy to be added. I've attempted claiming to be other distros - they even updated for "precise" which is much older. But any older or newer and the upgrade won't go, it can't find various dependencies from other repositories. Do I have to upgrade my Linux itself to get this QGIS upgrade to work? It's only about a year old.

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  • Just stick with 2.6 - v2.8 has still a few annoying bugs – ymirsson Mar 15 '15 at 17:53
  • Point taken (though it's not like 2.6 doesn't, and I note that a 2.8.1 is now out...) but come on, I eventually have to make the jump...thanks, though, I will take my time upgrading... – Roy Brander Mar 15 '15 at 18:09
  • You could download the 2.8.1 from qgis.org/downloads/ and install it from source. It's not that hard and the step-by-step readme covers it pretty in-depth. – ymirsson Mar 15 '15 at 18:31
  • Another point taken, and yes, I guess I am lazy. I admit I was kind of hoping for a post like 'Dang, that's me, sorry I missed Saucy, I'll catch up tomorrow.' (Or, perhaps, shortly after 2.8.2 fixes all those dang bugs of which you spoke..) – Roy Brander Mar 15 '15 at 19:21
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    There are QGIS mailing list where you can ask questions. With the Nabble interface, it is like forums – gene Mar 15 '15 at 19:47
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Do I really have to upgrade my Linux itself just to get a QGIS upgrade to work? It's only about a year old.

Yes you should upgrade your OS.

As a non-LTS (Long Term Support) release, Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander / Mint 16 Petra was only supported for 9 months and reached end of life in July 2014.

In addition to not getting QGIS updates, you are also not getting critical security updates.

You should upgrade to Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty / Mint 17 Qiana / Mint 17.1 Rebecca LTS which are supported for 5 years.

they even updated for "precise" which is much older

Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin is an LTS release and is still supported. In fact, 12.04.5 is actually a more recent release than 13.10.

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  • YOICKS! I had no idea I was that out of date. I'm not that big on "latest&greatest" but security updates are a serious point. I suppose I have to face up to it. – Roy Brander Mar 17 '15 at 1:20
  • @Roy it's too easy to get out of date with the new Ubuntu release cycles these days. The non-LTS releases used to be supported for 18 months, but now only for 9 which means you have to upgrade every release or you stop getting updates. I think they did this so they could extend the support of the LTS releases (from 3 to 5 years). The Linux Mint developers didn't like that so switched to basing their releases only on Ubuntu LTS versions as of Mint 17. If you upgrade to Mint 17 or 17.1 you won't be forced to upgrade again for a while. – user2856 Mar 17 '15 at 9:00
  • @RoyBrander wise to stick with Mint, hope you've gotten up to the latest OS and QGIS version, they run so well when up-to-date on both sides! – DPSSpatial Mar 9 '16 at 23:39
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I'm going to offer another perspective on the process. Compiling QGIS by hand is a pain (speaking from own experience); asking the team to rebuild for a distro that's outside of the quite narrow range of options is impossible.

Hence, the only viable alternative for Linux users is installing WINE and then installing QGIS for Windows. You no longer have to think about possible migration of workplace environment (sometimes it's not for you to decide), and you effectively decouple QGIS lifecycle from your own OS lifecycle.

This doesn't mean you have to stay with unsupported versions of Linux. You should migrate, by all means, but at your own pace and without QGIS' team dictating you what distribution to run.

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  • Alternatively, you can install a virtual box with any Linux version supported by QGIS or your other favourite software. – AndreJ Mar 16 '15 at 12:21
  • @AndreJ - been there, tried that. Interoperability is harder to pull off, and you need a Windows license. – Deer Hunter Mar 16 '15 at 12:23
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    I did not propose Windows in the VM box, but another, more recent Linux distro. The VM is also good for testing before you do the OS upgrade on the host system. – AndreJ Mar 16 '15 at 14:01

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