There are 10 sorts of distributions in the world. Those that have specific releases, where it is better to reformat and reload with each new release and rolling distributions.

Even still the specific release distributions can, in some cases, be upgraded to the newest release when it becomes available but this does not always work. The biggest advantage (or disadvantage depending on your viewpoint) is that stable (sic) versions of programs are chosen for that particular distribution release and are maintained throughout the life of that released distribution.

On the other hand, the other type of distribution is called a rolling distribution. This type of distribution does not have specific distribution releases. They may however periodically release a current snapshot of a release so new installations do not have to download and install hundreds of megabytes of patches and program upgrades.

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