is fedora for me ?

[John Walsh]

>| As a current RedHat Linux 9.0 user - I'm wondering if Fedora is the
>| replacement for me ?
>|
>
>Yes, it is.  FC1 could be considered "RedHat 10" for all intents and
>purposes.  The community-driven aspect of the project is just getting
>ramped up and (I'm suspecting) we won't see how it will fully work until
>FC2 or 3.

OK, thats clear, thanks.

The release version is still a 0.9* - so what state would you say the 
overall
project/system (from a users point of view) is in ?

Should I expect a clean install with no problems, or are there still a few
glitches to work out ?

I'm happy to give it a go and send you feedback. I'm also happy to wait
until a 1.0 release if thats when it becomes 'stable'.


>If there's a Linux Users' Group near where you're living, I'd suggest
>joining up.  Knowledgable users are always helpful at Install Fests.  
>*grin*

Any web sites list these groups ?


>| Reasons why I choose RedHat to start with (3 years ago):
>|
>| very good installer,
>| updates available (up2date),
>| modern kernel (modular, USB support),
>| works reliably (just as I wanted above),
>|
>
>All of these things apply today.  In fact, the installer has gotten
>better and GNOME 2.4 is a great leap in desktop usability.

Aside:

My brother is not a techie, and has only been using a PC for around 1 year,
with Windows XP... He's so fed up with all the crap he keeps getting from
the internet, he's asking me if he can switch to Linux.

I'm not sure Fedora is ready for him yet, but as it settles down, he is the 
sort
of user I would like to see being able to use Linux...


>| My only concern is the frequency of new releases and if this means that
>| I will need to
>| re-install at the same rate - and how that effects me keeping my server
>| going with all
>| its history (eg. mailman lists... which I am new to, so have not been
>| through an upgrade
>| yet, but I did find and half fix a bug in it).
>|
>
>As long as you stay current with updates, you could theoretically use
>yum/apt to move from FC1 to 2 and so on.

I am/was an up2date user...

I have not used apt yet - I'll look into it. I do hear good things about it.

My general method of upgrading (to a new release) is to install from
scratch onto new drives (I keep all my drives in caddies) - thus keeping
the working system (system drive and /home drive) safe until I have the
new system up and working.


>| In fact, on the subject of doing re-installs (for an upgrade), I have a
>| suggestion. Would it
>| be possible to create a floppy disc with your install options stored on
>| it, so that when you
>| come to do your next install, you can pop in the floppy and click the
>| button 'get options
>| from floppy' ? It would save having to go through the package list every
>| time... although
>| there may be some changes between releases, but I'm sure that can be
>| flagged to the
>| user, who can then sort it out....
>|
>| Or, is it possible to create a minimal list of all the 'top level'
>| RPM's, such that selecting just those
>| would force all the dependencies to be installed too...
>|
>|
>
>The "upgrade" function on your CDROM distro of Fedora already performs
>this function.

OK, but as I outline above - being a careful upgrader, I don't use this 
option,
just in case it goes wrong...


>You could also look in to creating a Kickstart file and adjusting it
>slightly for each release.

Not sure exactly what you mean here, but I do keep a record of all the 
changes
I make, and how to install/configure each package, and the files I've 
changed -
which all helps loads when I do a new install...

NB. When I've had a disk crash in the past, I got the new system up and 
working
to the same setup as before in one day. That includes several virtual 
domains
and email support for them... but without mailman at that time.


>| So, if anyone has any wise words for me, or advice as to which Linux I
>| should choose,
>| it would be appreciated.
>|
>
>Wise words: Always make /home its own partition.

I keep it on a seperate drive !   *grin*


>That is all. *grin*

Thanks for the advice...
John.

SIG SONG:

I see the people standing there,
They disagree, and never win,
And wonder why they don't get in my door.


>Doug Stewart
>Systems Administrator/Web Applications Developer
>Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Labs
>dstewart at atl.lmco.com
>
>Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur
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