[clue] ubuntu upgrading

[Yaverot]

Okay I got a friend who's using Ubuntu 9.04, and has just got a new printer, which requires a newer version of hplip than the one he has installed, and the repositories for this version are now gone.

Do you guys recommend a manual update to a newer hplip (many missing dependencies), or upgrading to a newer version of Ubuntu?  If upgrading U, which version means not having to re-teach the user, as screenshots of the newest version clearly show.