Upgrading gc on an ubuntu desktop

[John R. Sowden]

I have decided to give gc another chance.  I noticed that the copy I 
have on my desktop is dated April, 2016.  I checked and found that this 
is the "current version" per ubuntu, so to get a version that is a year 
newer, I must go elsewhere.  I went to google and searched for words 
like gnucash ubuntu upgrade ppa.  Separately and in groups.  Nothing.  I 
checked emails from the gc mail list that I saved that I thought might 
be of interest, no luck.

Is this an "only install a new copy over the old copy", and if so where 
do I find the instruction to do it properly, or something else.  I have 
a data file with my complete chart of accounts, and a few transactions 
that I entered to understand how payroll, multi-account spreads 
("splits") works, etc.  I can save it externally but I want to integrate 
that into the new version of gc.  My ubuntu is 16.04 lts.

john