On Thu, 2004-06-24 at 11:42, Scot L. Harris wrote: > On Thu, 2004-06-24 at 10:00, Ted Gervais wrote: > > Has anyone thought of going back to RH9? That release had virtually no > > problems and while it was the last supported release it still is/was better > > than the fedora distributions. I am thinking of the problems with the > > sound, scanners, and other hardware devices and applications. I would have > > thought that after FC1 that FC2 would have had all the current concerns > > fixed and it would have been as good as RH9. Turns out, it is many steps > > behind the last RedHat release and makes one wonder about continuing. > > > > Anyway - just wondering if others have had the same thought about going > > back to what was better than the current FC2 release?? > > > > FC1 was pretty much just RH9 with only a few changes. > > FC2 was a major upgrade for the kernel and window manager as well as a > few other items. I expect FC3 to be much more what everyone is looking > for in regards to the various issues that arose with FC2 release. Yes! I believe that too. Maybe FC2 came out too soon. Possibly a delay of maybe a month or two might have been a better way to come out with an upgrade to FC1. > > I personally do not plan on rolling any system back. I have worked > through most of the issues and found workarounds or fixes. I have > avoided most of the really bad issues by following a few simple rules. > > 1. Don't load new stuff on critical boxes with out first testing on a > test box. > > 2. Don't upgrade a box just to be upgrading, particularly if it is a > critical production box. If the old OS and applications work just fine > and there is no compelling reason to upgrade then don't upgrade. > > 3. Plan a back out strategy if things go horribly wrong. > > 4. Make backups of all critical data. > > 5. Test your backups and make sure you can restore the data from > tape/CD/disk/paper tape/etc. > > 6. Document your system. Print out harddrive and file system/partition > layout, motherboard chip sets, video card information, LAN card specs, > network configuration info (IP address, DNS, default gateway). > > 7. Allocate additional time to allow for some trouble shooting. DO NOT > ASSUME everything will go smoothly, particularly the first time. Even > if you executed step 1 several times, actual in the field upgrades can > and will be somewhat different from the lab. > > 8. Read the release notes and review the various forums and mailing > lists. These are good indications of what people are having issues > with. > > 9. Wait several weeks before loading that brand new OS. Many issues > will be found by the early adopters. Benefit from their experience. :) > > 10. Always always always put a hardware firewall between you and the > Internet in addition to using the firewall on the system. > > I realize that many people don't have a spare box laying around to test > with. As such follow rules 3, 4, 5, and 6 even more closely. Make sure > you have the tools available to restore your system from a complete > harddrive failure. That way if an upgrade or new install proves to > troublesome you simply fall back to what you have loaded previously. > > And if you have a problem with particular hardware or software then ask > the question providing as much information as possible. There are many > generous people out here that are willing to work through a problem and > provide information if you ask. Thanks for all your input. Very good advice there. And yes there are some good responses to questions out there too. > > > -- > Scot L. Harris > webid@xxxxxxxxxx > > Backed up the system lately? -- Ted Gervais Coldbrook, Nova Scotia Canada.
