Upgrade is Cruel

I've got a 5.0 db I'd like to upgrade to 5.1.

This db is several terabytes in size.

Here's what the manual says about the ideal way to upgrade:

2.12.1. Upgrading from MySQL 5.0 to 5.1

[snip] MySQL recommends that you dump and reload your tables from any previous version to upgrade to 5.1.

Arghhhh!!!!!  Dumping and reloading a multi-terabyte db would take weeks with mysql!!!  That's the best option for upgrading a mysql db?  Unacceptable!!!!!!