I thought about a clean install of Mint 20.1. I read of some have a bad experience with Mint 20 when it came out.
I will stick with Mint 18.3, since I am retired and only really need the basics.
Updates and upgrades seem to create as many problem as they resolve.
Yes, if all your hardware works fine with that you can keep it forever if you like. I tested the new 20.x versions and had issues. So I am going to stick with the stable 18.3. Here is the cool deal with linux, you can always just update only the kernel it’s self and maybe the apps if you want to, and keep the distro you like.
But the only time you might need to update the kernel is if you load it on a newer machine that needs the newer kernel for the CPU support etc. But if everything works just leave it alone, no need to update anything with the OS, just apps maybe if and when they improve apps. :)
First thing to do when a person gets Linux is remove that update, update, update, frame of mind. No need at all...
That is MS brainwashing because of their bad product we had to deal with for so many years. :)