joomla1.5 - Why should I keep my Joomla version up to date?

Question

When posting a question and referring to my Joomla version, I have always been told to update to the latest version. I don't see why updating is such a big deal. What are the benefits of updating?

Answer 1

Whenever I see someone post a question and stating an old version of Joomla, usually, the first thing I say is "Upgrade to the latest version of Joomla (1.5.26, 2.5.26 or 3.3.5 depending what build you're on)". I shouldn't have to explain why upgrading to the latest version is important, but I will for those who have older or absolutely ancient versions. The 2 reasons for updating are:

1. Fix bugs
2. Fix security issues

If I was designing a site then I personally wouldn't want any bugs, such as certain functions not working in certain cases. Nor would I want any security threats which I why I ALWAYS keep my Joomla version up to date. Of course, it's never 100% secure, which is why I also use a few security extensions, just to be on the safe side.

Take this update for example:

Joomla 2.5.5 added 11 new features, fixed 2 security issues and 113 tracker issues. I deem that a rather big update therefore uploaded it the day it came out.

If you're using 1.5.26, that isn't a problem and I don't see upgrading to 2.5 a "must do", however would definitely recommend doing do, primarily for higher security and also note that most (decent) hosting providers update the PHP version on their servers, and once they update it to PHP 5.4, you're Joomla 1.5 site

Some people have also said that their site was hacked and they're using Joomla 1.5.16 (for example). Well if you updated to the latest version and took precaution, this might not have happened.

I'm obviously not demanding that you all keep up to date, but I consider it a necessity and find it silly if you don't. Especially if the website is for a client.