[ale] RH + Updates

[Dow Hurst]

I think this is exactly why gentoo and debian are loved by those who use 
them.  Mostly that kind of ease allows you to stay up to date with new 
software changes.  If you want the same software that came on your 
current rpm based distro, but with constantly updated security patches, 
then the regular distros are really good to use.  Maybe if Geoffrey has 
time he could explain how he uses Yast2 to upgrade software.  It does 
dependency checking and if a external server is designated then it can 
resolve dependencies using remote package checking.  At least that is 
what I thought I understood him to mean.  I have just gotten a new Dell 
360n-series workstation with Redhat 9.0 on it.  I am just learning 
Redhat's way under Dell's way.  It is really nice for keeping a secure 
stable system.  However, I don't think it is very upgradeable beyond the 
software that comes with Redhat 9.0.  The rhn update agent is very 
convenient for security patches.  Dell has some boot scripts that checks 
for the need to rebuild modules on boot based on hardware and kernel 
changes.  I accepted the kernel security update last week as an 
experiment and the machine installed the new kernel without deleting the 
old.  Then on reboot, grub gave me the choice of kernels.  After 
selecting the new kernel, I held my breath, but the nvidia and other 
modules were rebuilt on the fly for the new kernel.  Took awhile to boot 
but I was amazed when everything worked so smooth.  The hardware 
detection scripts detected and configured the firewire DVD writer for 
kudzu and updated /etc/fstab with no problems.  So, for robustness, I 
can't complain about this installation at all.  I do wish that there was 
a way to have RedHat provide upgrade packages for certain software like 
Mozilla and OpenOffice.org.  Maybe I just don't know enough, but if 
Redhat would do it then the rhn subscription would seem well worth it to me.
Dow


Matthew Brown wrote:

> I'm with you.  I wonder, is Debian any better?
>
> Also, I notice that the RPM package management system leaves some to 
> be desired.  Either I am ignorant in it's advanced use, or it is just 
> a little too cumbersome.  For example, in trying to get gDesklets to 
> work -- still unsuccessfully -- I needed to upgrade Python, but that 
> broke python2-gnome2-ui or somesuch.  RPM complained about the 
> upgrade, but I would love to have just said, "upgrade yourself to the 
> latest, and include any dependencies" -- or at least list them and 
> allow me to grab them at will.
>
> I only worked with apt-get shortly working on another project, but it 
> seemed REALLY easy.  Myabe a little too easy, I suppose.  All I said 
> was apt-get this-1.0.3-14, and it upgraded this, that, and the other, 
> all without incident.
>
> I'm not after a pm war, but would love to hear the pros and cons.  
> Shoot, even emerge was easier than rpm.
>
>
> On Mon, 2003-08-25 at 07:51, Christopher Fowler wrote:
>
>>/I know people complain about MS having huge service packas and having
>>too many of them.  I have to say that I can not keep up with the
>>amount of patches RedHat releases.  It seems like every day the little
>>blue icon goes red.  Thank GID I'm only doing updates on 2 ocmputers.
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
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>>Ale at ale.org/
>>/http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale/
>>
>-- 
>Best regards,
>
>Matthew Brown
>CorData, Inc.
>Office:	770-795-0089
>Fax:	404-806-4855
>
>
>  
>

-- 
__________________________________________________________
Dow Hurst                  Office: 770-499-3428           
Systems Support Specialist    Fax: 770-423-6744           
1000 Chastain Rd. Bldg. 12                                
Chemistry Department SC428  Email:   dhurst at kennesaw.edu  
Kennesaw State University         Dow.Hurst at mindspring.com
Kennesaw, GA 30144                                        
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