[lug] Introduction, and a Dumb Distribution Version Question

[Corey Snipes]

Hello, all.  I'm pretty new to this, and I've been lurking for about 3 
days.  I've been using linux at home for ~9 months, and I do some 
webserver administration at work on a number of unix flavors (BSD, 
Solaris, Linux too).  My background is with Windows, though, and MS 
server administration is still my primary job at work.  (I know, I 
know.)

Currently, I'm running Mandrake 7.2 (with Ximian Gnome) on my primary 
home machine, and 6.2 (without Xf86) on two other boxes.  It's been 
suggested to me that I upgrade to 8.2 (since it's available now).  
Here's the dumb question part.  I just went through the upgrade from 
6.2 to 7.2 a few months ago, and I'm reluctant to go thru all that 
again.

 - Can I update the kernel and installed RPMs and achieve (more
     or less) the same result as installing 8.2?

 - Is upgrading fairly straightforward (with Mandrake, in particular)
     or am I likely to wreck the installations in the process?

 - (Or, should I just save my data, wipe the machine, and install 
     clean?)

Thanks!

(:  Corey Snipes
    Boulder, CO, USA