That can also have its own dependencies. I tried to update some relatively simple apps that ran on Java 8 with some Spring libraries (not Boot) and had to deal with the Jakarta stuff to handle it… Only to discover that the Weblogic Application Server we use doesn’t support Jakarta just yet (or probably more accurately, STILL doesn’t!)
Pretty sure that’s me at my job, but I take your approach too.
I just have lousy coworkers who keep a bunch of stale branches open with no real maintenance plan. Thankfully I kind of work in my own bubble and generally avoid that jungle