sooner than you think. But yes.
It isnt going to hurt, if your system can handle it, to go to the next LTS version of Mint.
I am not familiar with mint these days and what changed across releases.
I wish there was a way that I could just upgrade into it without having to wipe and start over. It doesn't look like I can do that from what I'm reading. Although to a untrained user like myself a lot of it looks like braille. They also made the boot disk creation kind of tricky compared to previous years which is annoying.
A couple suggestions.
buy a new ssd, install, install OS on it. mount old drive as reference point. keep old OS drive mounted this way, until you get it all moved over... this is the easiest... and saves all your stuff, but doesnt bring configs and saves back... the good thing, once you install the program again, you can find its config or save files and copy them in manually...
If you want to upgrade. without wiping.
-- This is fucking jewed, but this will get your shit solved by some local normy... use some BS mail address and a burner phone...
go to meetup find a local linux user group in your area. Talk to the local dudes, these are the guys going to be able to help you out of shit. These are also the guys willing to teach you.
You do not have to like them, you dont have to agree with them. Use them like fucking tools if they are asswipes. barter pc shit for something you do from someone.
If there is no direct upgrade path, a system can still be upgraded. Its a ton of effort.
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Id still suggest starting with a new SSD just for the OS. also make a backup of your whole machine before you go down either path.
LOL. That's a great idea about the SSD. Then just move everything over as I see fit.
As far as local Linux group where I am currently I wouldn't even know where to begin. I do have an old buddy that is a sort of Linux user so maybe he might have an idea. I can reach out.
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