OS Future now that Fedora Legacy defunct

[Wade Hampton]

I've been following this thread for some time and would like to add a few
comments.  I've been a user of RHL since about version 4 and Slackware since
kernel 0.99pl13.  I've seen a lot of changes, mostly for the better and
really like FC, however I have some concerns (much as I did when RHL -> FC).

We started using FC for several reasons including that it is the extension
of RHL, is close to RHEL, is supported by the hardware/software stack we
use, is generally stable and secure, had medium-term support via
fedora-legacy, and was free.  Our current tested and approved baseline is
FC4.  I am concerned over the loss of fedora-legacy and shortened
support.... Maybe we should have used CentOS instead.

The lack of long-term support will hurt Fedora.  Why should one install the
latest on each and every computer as opposed to just on a few and upgrade
every year or so.  For bleeding-edge developers, 6 months is OK, but for my
wife's computer or my development network 13 months even is way too short.
A couple of years would be more reasonable especially if someone is running
it on dozens of computers as I am (without sysadmin support).

Last month, I upgraded three computers at home to FC6 from FC5 and FC4 with
many issues (posted to the mailing list).  One FC5->FC6 upgrade (laptop,
x86_64) took nearly 20 hours!  Many said that I should just have done a
fresh install, but on multiple computers at home, a development network at
work, and some machines across the country, that would be difficult.  My
development network of dozens of computers is mostly baselined on FC4 with a
few FC5 test machines.  I will not have time until February to begin using
FC6 on the development network, yet no updates for FC4.  That is reality.

If the update process was fixed or streamlined, it would not be as much of
an issue, but 20 hours for 1 computer is a bit too much (or even the 3-4
hours for the other ones I upgraded).

These are some of my Fedora recommendations:
1) streamline the update process so that it does not take much more time
than a fresh install
    - this should encourage updates and would help with adoption
2) fix the many cases where yum update fails due to dependency mess
    - Fedora will NEVER replace windows if updates require you to manually
remove stuff to make it work
    - I hear complaints about RPM that sound like Windows DLL Hell
complaints from the late 1990's!
    - merge of extras and core should really help here
3) fix the long-standing RPM issue of hanging if you cancel an update or
install (__db* files remaining)
    - very old issue, still an issue with FC6 AFIK, impacts updates
4) support two previous versions for at least 18 months (2 years would be
optimal)
    - For example, I would only have to update the wife's computer every
year
5) reduce the requirements for the installer (memory, etc.) for legacy
hardware
6) reduce the number of required CDs for a very basic, minimal install to 1
or 2
7) reduce the minimal install footprint (remember the RULE project?)
8) work with mondo archive or similar on a suite of replication and backup
capabilities and bundle with FC

Hope my comments help....
--
Wade Hampton
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