On Fri, 2004-03-12 at 20:20, Timothy Murphy wrote: > > Michael A. Peters wrote: > > > > > Generally when upgrading Linux it is best to do a fresh install of the > > > new operating system. This is because of the libraries primarily. > > > [snip] > > > Which libraries exactly? > > I just compared the libraries on the computer I upgraded to FC-1 from RH-9 > > with the one I installed FC-1 on > > (both having been brought up2date). > > While I didn't make a careful comparison, > > I couldn't see any difference in the libraries > > (except one or two I'd installed myself). Usually where you will run into issues is taken care of (by the compat libraries that Red Hat installs - like libstdc++-compat etc.) but where I have seen issues is in some specialty libraries, like MySQL for example. Especially if it wasn't installed as part of the distro. This is mostly an issue with stuff in /usr/local that is not installed by rpm. > > > > Are you claiming that there is a problem with libraries if you upgrade? > > How do you know, if you never upgrade yourself? Because I've worked in the industry since RH 5 - with Linux. There usually are not issues between point releases, the issues happen when changing major versions. > > > > I've always upgraded from RH-7 onwards (possibly earlier), > > and I've never had any "library problem" of the sort you describe. Your experience is anectdotal. There are not guaranteed to be issues. It depends upon several factors - The quality of the rpm packager The quality of the library (some do not major version when they should) Luck of the draw When you properly partition to keep your user data apart from your system partitions, and properly back up your config files (/etc), you can fresh install and it is a lot more likely to be problem free. You can disagree all you like. Some people smoke a pack a day and never get cancer. That doesn't mean it's a good idea - it means they just haven't personally experienced the possible drawbacks. Tell me - what happens if something goes wrong in the middle of your upgrade? You are stuck with a broken system. If you are properly partitioned and you have your config files saved - no biggie. You can install again or revert to old version if needed. If you are properly partitioned so that clean install is possible - what's the point of upgrade opposed to clean install? It's a lot easier for QA to test different clean install scenarios than upgrade scenarios - especially upgrade scenarios that may involve some rpm's not from your distro's official list.
