[flukus]

> Which never happens,

It has happened to me, an update broke my sound card and I didn't know until I tried to use it at a time that was extremely inconvenient to me.

> Submit a bug for a DE, and they might tell you to install the newest version to replicate it there (yet you're on Ubuntu...)

Known bugs have known work arounds, I can deal with that. What I can't deal with is surprise new bugs in cutting edge software.

[OJFord]

> an update broke my sound card and I didn't know until I tried to use it at a time that was extremely inconvenient to me.

That can happen updating infrequently too, and can be harder to work out the cause.

[vinceguidry]

If your kernel gets updated, things that rely on kernel modules may not work properly until the system is rebooted. It's always good to delay kernel updates until you have the time to reboot.