how do I update a redhat 9.0 system -- binary compatibilty and release model

[Bryan J. Smith]

From: "Mike Vanecek" <fedoraleg_form at mm-vanecek.cc>
> I had toyed with FC 2, but my RH 9 is running so good, why fix something not
> broken.

In general, that's not a bad viewponit.

Unfortunately, the lack of people moving to the last ".2" (or ".3")
revision in a series is one of the reasons why Red Hat Linux 6.2E was
introduced and the eventual Red Hat Enterprise Linux product came
about.  Supporting 6+ updates simultaneously was too much to ask.

You can read the "unofficial" story here:  
http://www.vaporwarelabs.com/files/temp/RH-Distribution-FAQ-4.html#ss4.3

In this regard, Fedora Core 1 (CL3.2) is actually the ".2" release
whereas Red Hat Linux 9 (CL3.1) is a ".1" release -- as can be noted in
the "unofficial" binary compatibility section of the same FAQ here:  
http://www.vaporwarelabs.com/files/temp/RH-Distribution-FAQ-3.html  

Adhering to this new model (which is just a return to the "original"
model) will allow Red Hat and the Fedora Project to support
distributions for a longer period of time with less, redundant effort as
detailed in the "distribution updates" portion of the fact (comparing
"old" v. "new"):  
http://www.vaporwarelabs.com/files/temp/RH-Distribution-FAQ-4.html  

For those that can't afford it, Red Hat provides 5 flavors of Red Hat
Enterprise Linux with 5 years of guaranteed updates:
 $ 1,000+ RHEL AS:  Advanced Server
 $   349+ RHEL ES:  Entry Server (? heard it meant something else)
 $   179+ RHEL WS:  Workstation
 $   109  Red Hat Professional Workstation (shrink-wrapped RHEL WS)
  varies  Red Hat Desktop (10 and 50 node RHEL WS "license packs")

As far as RHEL v. Fedora Core from a 100% technical standpoint, we had
this discussion on one of my local LUGs where I mentioned that things
like centOS and White Box Enterprise Linux (WBEL) were rather redundant
and only introduce the trademark issue back into the equation:  
http://mailman.jaxlug.org/pipermail/jaxlug-list/Week-of-Mon-20040816/011241.html 

[ FYI, JAXLUG, with rare exceptions like Art Wildman who works at NOAA
and other people who have "production Linux networks" like myself,"
seems to be filled with anti-Red Hat enthusiasts and not many actual
Linux users -- at least compared to other LUGs I'm on.  The gentleman I
had that thread with actually runs RHL, RHEL and is testing Fedora, and
he and I had some good conversations off-list. ]

Fedora was created for a good, community reason -- elimination of the
real trademark issue that plagued Red Hat.  Everything else is just
looking past the "marketing" and "support" aspects.  Support is really
no different than with Red Hat Linux prior (other than certification and
lack of RHN access, although UP2DATE still pulls from Red Hat ;-).

-- Bryan


-- 
Compatibility and update matrix of Red Hat(R) distributions:  
http://www.vaporwarelabs.com/files/temp/RH-Distribution-FAQ-3.html 
http://www.vaporwarelabs.com/files/temp/RH-Distribution-FAQ-4.html 
------------------------------------------------------------------ 
Bryan J. Smith                                  b.j.smith at ieee.org