Linux security

[#1]

Looking on the Linux forum I noticed a comment from some one that from a security aspect it was adviseable to use the most recent version available.
I think they were using mint 13 or 14 with the current version being 17, so the question is are you at greater risk by using an older version of Linux or is the risk so small as not worth bothering about .?

[#2]

With older UNSUPPORTED versions then you are/can be in trouble. Things like the ssl bug can bite you since no updates are available. As long as you keep with a supported version (like an LTS one) then you should have no problems, or if the unit is never connected to the net it will have no issues.

[#3]

Mint 13 (2012) is supported for 5 years.

[#4]

I recently upgraded to Mint 16 and do not want to wipe my drive and start again (dual boot with windows 7)
Can I just  pop in a mint 17  Disk and just install it with the other  2 operating systems, both on SSD in other words will the installation procedure allow me the option of keeping windows and mint 16 or am I just asking for trouble doing this ?

[#5]

Yep you can have all 3 happily booting. I regularly run my current Mint and an updated version to test (in a separate partition logging on as a different user to keep my /home clean)

[#6]

Mint is a bit tricky.
You are meant to wipe the mint system (but you can keep your /home directory, provided you put it in a separate partition).
You can't just ask it to upgrade the bits of the system which have changed.
Remember that if you have customised some things, this will need to be redone (possibly).
You can load it to run alongside other OS's - use the advanced (or whatever) install, so that you can confirm all steps.
I would do a clone of your SSD first...

[#7]

Linux & windows are on a 256 ssd.
Most of my files are on a 1TB internal HD.
If I go ahead with a straight forward install of mint 17 how will it devide up or partition the ssd ?
Will it just split it into 3 equal partitions for the os systems or will it just split the existing mint partitions equally ?
A second thing I am unsure about is access to the HDD in linux, is there any way I can access it to put things on it ?
I assume it will be necessary to partition it but could I lose existing data by doing this.?
Thanks

[#8]

I tend to use a 15-30gb partition for each new install, with my /home on a separate partition shared between them
How are your existing partitions setup?

[#9]

Your SSD & HD partitions can be accessed as sdxy where x is a,b,c etc and corresponds to the drive & y=1,2,3  etc and corresponds to a partition number.
There are other methods...
Have a look at your /dev/sd.. devices.
Note that the ssd is not guaranteed to be sda (although it probably is).

[#10]

Quote from: Hairy

I tend to use a 15-30gb partition for each new install, with my /home on a separate partition shared between them

I have standardised on a dual boot 6 partition basic "leap-frog" method - 2 "system" of 15-20GB, 2 "home" of around 10GB, swap and a common partition for Documents (and others) accessed using sym-links when happy with the new installation. The alternate OS/home are included in fstab and user mountable when they need to be accessed. That way, the user configuration can be created/duplicated/modified/regenerated without affecting the old installation and the sym-links inserted (or renamed) when it becomes the "production" system.
Additional partitions are used for specific items, such as MS Windows in a VM.

[#11]

Thanks for the information, will have a look at this over the weekend and see how I get on.