FC3 -> FC4 Upgrade? (was Re: reducing distribution CD count)

[Eric Warnke]

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005, Jeff Spaleta wrote:

> No one is ignoring the problem... packages have been dropped in
> previous releases even way back in rhl... when there was no Extras. If
> all the java stuff was ready for fc1 or fc2 or rhl9.. we have the same
> problem... with the same solution. If anything the fact that there is

I think everyone wants the same things, to make sure FC4 does not turn 
into an end user nightmare.  Personally my vote would be for 5 cd's until 
a true fix can be applied rather than a last minute pulling of packages. 
But seeing as that may not be happening.

The problem that I and others see is that people using core could update 
and find a broken system.  Yes, this is something yum could fix, but if 
the user is using CD's they may not have access to update at that point. 
So the people that use CD because they don't have broadband are going to 
be the poeple hardest hit by these changes.

I just don't wat to alienate those users who just invested a number of 
hours to upgrade to fc4.

( forgive me if this exists already ) What if anaconda mearly warned 
people that the following packages will have unsatified dependancies at 
the end of the install and that the person may/will need access to extras 
and or access to the internet to complete installation?  This would allow 
people to know what they were getting into and decide if the wanted to 
upgrade immediatly and break things or wait.  It's not the perfect 
solution, but at least it allows users to make an informed decision about 
proceeding with the upgrade IF they are affected by the loss of packages 
in core.  People unaffected would install as they always have.


Cheers,
Eric Warnke

Systems Admin - Research Technology
SUNY at Albany