Care to share the Jurassic Park wallpaper 
?
The Install has been through 3 different motherboards…X299, Z690 & now a Z790…
[dean@ASUS-Z790 Desktop]$ stat / | grep Birth
Birth: 2021-09-17 20:32:07.000000000 -0700
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Nowadays, I have a “Less Is More” approach to my systems.
I tend to install exactly the software I need for my needs and tweak the system as little as possible.
If I feel like experimenting, I will do it in a VM.
I try to KISS and hopefully my Arch systems won’t break beyond a point that warrants a new installation.
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I love tinkering in EOS it gives such a pleasing feeling to me. So if something broke after update or my actions I think this is a challenge to fix it by hands.
I reinstall it only once, when I choose wrong hard drive while installing 
I have a laptop too! Linux on laptop is beautiful, because longer battery life and quieter fans.
(sorry for bad English)
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Don’t jinx it! 
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In 2021, I only had to reinstall OS once because my new faulty RAM was used for 9 months long after purchase. This led to random bit-rot in various parts of my old system, bin-files, data and backups without me noticing as I was using everthing on robust Ext4.
How did I notice that?
Memtest+ and some test tool had limitations and couldn’t detect certain 1 bit error in the RAM (This bit flip probably occurs due to high temperature or other causes), except Btrfs which is the only one that can alert me. It stopped copying any corrupted backup.
I know that a 1-bit error in RAM can be dangerous, especially when using multiple RAM modules, as it can spread errors across successive calculations and transfers.
From this experience, I learned not to blindly trust old or new hardware. Every hardware has a limited lifespan with prolonged use.
I’ve been using my current system since 2021 until now without reinstalling, it has survived more than 6 power failures and my old mainboard’s failure. Of course, I have a system backup and 2x home backup. A few months ago I bought a UPS to prevent power failure and make my system safe.
linux in general? only when changing machine entirely (new mb, new cpu, new gpu, etc) but just because I am lazy and it is faster than bugfixing. Also, I do my due diligence monthly and have several separate backups at every significant change in the OS on mechanical hard drives, so basically the answer to your questions is “almost never”.
I bought a new PC, a fresh install is faster to deploy compared to troubleshooting
until it works flawlessly. EOS in particular is awesomely stable, so I have the same installation since day 1 of joining this community.
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My opinion for what’s it worth. . . if it isn’t broken don’t fix it. I have broken my system a couple times but each time I reinstall I learn more about what I did or didn’t do properly. Once I get up to speed I also download the ‘latest’ ISO when they come out and put that aside if the system does crash through my own negligence, I then reinstall from the newest ISO. I do this to see what improvements have been made with the installer. Finally, what really matters is what software apps work and how well they are maintained. This stuff is always evolving. . . .
Rich;)
Both extremes apply here… I have an ‘enduring’ EnOS install, about 4 years now. On a separate machine I installed and then did re-install within the hour! Apparently systemd-boot doesn’t - so I re-installed and loaded it with grub (as a temporary measure until rEFInd is on). Normally I install, and they last until replacement time, unless they happen to be 'Buntu or Debian based - then they get a re-install at upgrade time. Arch-based - only if replaced…
Desktop. Only reinstall when I’m building a new pc, or there is a catastrophic storage hardware failure like an SSD dying. My last rig was built very recently, so stat -c %w / outputs to 2024-02-08 14:18:03.000000000 +0000
The great thing about a rolling release is that unless you break something, intentionally or otherwise, as long as you maintain your system well and know what you’re doing, you shouldn’t need to reinstall. Having said that, if I am switching Desktop Environments, - that’s definitely a fresh install. For the most part, KDE Plasma has been my de-facto install for a long while now. I don’t see that changing.
That’s what I liked about the rolling thing. I’ve kind of alwyas had this feeling the LTS releases people install, and basically run as long as possible until they are just thrown away and reinstalled. It’s like someone buying a throw away car, or buying and maintaining one. Like, when you have a 2+ year gap between releases, like everything has changed, how can you update that? When it’s incremental, you can make those updates.
You can update Debian from one release to the next. I still have my old SolydXK install (which is based on Debian stable) from 2013, it’s still running fine and has been updated - not reinstalled - with each new version of Debian. I also used to run Lubuntu PPC on an old Powermac G5 (which used PPC processors, not Intel or AMD) and updated-in-place twice.
I mean, I know you can. It’s just - and after reading it- it sounds like it’s a lot more work for the updates and stuff. I’m sure it would be ok though. Maybe it’ll still be around in another year and half to try, who knows?
I’ve heard that Debian is rock solyd for a reason. I’m sure it didn’t get that reputation for being anything else.
Admittedly I was reading on their forum they have an update thread thing and a lot of folks were talking about how they use the “update” time to sort through everything and reinstall fresh instead of just updating from 11>12 for instance.
Always …
I’ve had to re-install EndeavourOS once in the few years I’ve been running it. That was because an electro-static discharge took out my motherboard and I had to rebuild my computer.
I’ve only reinstalled once, and that was because I broke my system and couldn’t figure out how to fix it. The only time I’d reinstall now is if hardware fails and I have to.
I have been using my current system without reinstalling! I don’t see the need for that!
It’s running in all the years I use it without reinstall now.
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Last time I reinstalled was probably when I upgraded my system from 8th gen Intel to Ryzen 5000 series. That was a while ago.
Before that I only had to reinstall cause I broke something. Frick around and find out. 