currently use Gentoo for my workstation and have been wanting to try out Fedora.
1. Once Fedora is installed, and a new version comes out (Say "Fedora 4"), will updating my system using up2date or yum install the current packages for the new version on my system; thereby updating the system with the same new software as the new release ("Fedora 4")? I like to keep my systems around for a while and don't like to reload the OS very often.
Not like 'emerge' or 'portage', sadly. I was *seriously* spoiled with Gentoo in that regard. Ultimately, though, until Gentoo's installation becomes a MUCH faster process - perhaps to the point of a stage-1 install to at least get your system to a bootable state in a 'short' amount of time and then let you reboot and complete the rest of it later, I need to stick with a release like Fedora. I dual-boot my laptop and since I use it for work, I simply can't afford to spend 3-4 days compiling everything to get it to a state where I boot it the first time.
Some people prefer to be more protective, and will actually backup their /home directory and perform a virgin install of the new version
That would include me, but as you've mentioned above, you prefer not to go that route.
2. Does the RPM package manager still suffer issues with dependencies as it used to? Example... Trying to install "Package 1" reveals Dependant packages needing to be installed, reveling yet more packages that need to be installed to satisfy the last Dependant package; wash, rinse, and repeat. Will up2date and/or yum take care of these dependencys for you now?
As Rob mentioned in his reply (very thorough, I might add):
yum -y update
... very friendly for updating packages - it resolves everything you need and with the '-y' switch won't prompt you at every step saying "Can I install package 'abc'?"
If you use 'chkconfig yum on' at a prompt, it'll run 'yum' on a nightly basis, upgrading things in the background for you. Your mileage may vary, but I've had pretty good luck with this. With Gentoo, unless I were subscribed to various mailing lists, I don't recall ever being notified that a newer package was available so I could 'emerge' it to keep my system current.
-id
