14.4 to 16.4 migration mantaining /home

[xabih]

I am going to migrate from Kubuntu 14.4 to Kubuntu 16.4 I read update is problematic so I will do a clean installation.

My question is, can I keep my old "/home" so the programs keep the previous settings or can this give me problems?

Thanks in advance.

[claydoh]

Yes you sure can do this, but do note that with the change from KDE4 to Plasma 5, your desktop settings will NOT migrate. Some of your KDE programs may not, either.
I do recommend keeping your old /home as it will still make things a lot e, easier all your other data (including the old KDE 4 settings) will still be there as Plasma 5 uses a different directory location for things

Anything not KDE related, such as Firefox, Gimp, etc will keep the settings you have from 14.04

[Teunis]

I have both installed each with their own /home but sharing some applications like Thunderbird and Firefox.

As claydoh says there are a few applications that might have conflicting configurations so a pure upgrade can give issues.
Providing you have enough free space you could first install the new one before deleting the old.