Do I Really Need to Upgrade?

Remember...
Deal with the faults of others...
As gently as with your own.
--Chinese Proverb

How many times do you get notices and messages from software and program writers to get the latest updates and upgrades? I know I get plenty of them, and more times than not I follow the directions for the update. Because I use and trust these programs I also trust the advice I'm given.

I've been receiving notices from Gallery to upgrade to the latest install and have ignored them for the most part. Today I decided it was time to take the plunge and upgrade from version 1.5.1 to version 1.5.4. The Readme.txt recommended an auto-install option that I took, getting the latest version of Gallery. Little did I know, I was upgrading to version 2.1.2, a G2 version compared to my own G1. A major upgrade. That wasn't my intention, and although the install went perfectly and very quickly, I couldn't get the pages to display so that they integrated with my current MT install.

The directory structure was completely different, with no html-wrap files to add my header and footer links. I was quite lost. I tried editing a few different pages, and got it to look something like the old page but of course the CSS was out of sync and it just didn't look right. Even setting up a redirect didn't work, so I wouldn't have to change the code everywhere I'd placed links for Toni's Photo Gallery. So my next option was to uninstall the 2.1.2 install. Four hours later and my FTP program is running on overtime still deleting the folders that have installed. Never before has an upgrade gone so completely wrong.

I re-read the email I received from Gallery and discovered a link to the newest G1 version that was for version 1.5.4. I've downloaded that and will go through the process again when the I've deleted the G2 folder. This time the directory structure is identical, and there's even instructions for upgrading a modified older version.

So, to my original question, do I really need to upgrade? Probably not. There was nothing wrong with my current installation, I've had no problems, no security breaches, and even no spam comments. I must have been slipped a subliminal message somewhere along the way that says I must have the latest, the most secure, the more enhanced, or whatever.

Unlike updating the plugins for MT 3.1.3, which was necessary for the plugins to work properly, this Gallery upgrade is not necessary, but hey, it's the latest version by God!!