Fedora Users — RE: Update - yum -y not downloading data...

I recently subscribed to this list and for some reason, EVERY posting is sent to me THREE times. I am not kidding. I must conclude the server sending these out uses some species of Fedora Linux with latest updates installed L as I’ve had the same problem as this person did during an update attempt yesterday.

I am getting ready to give up on Fedora. Here is why:

I’ve ran Red Hat Linux 6.1 on a very old EISA server (50 Mhz, 15 years old, STILL running and sending this e-mail BTW!).

My best-laid plan was simple – Build a new(er) system - 550 Mhz K6-2 AMD processor, 512M RAM, 180G (2 drives), two NICs (one for external internet, one for local net connections).

So far, so good. I purchased two books – The Fedora 3 Bible and Fedora 3 Unleashed to assist in learning new technology.

I am an experienced administrator with computer experience dating back to 1980 and both an AS degree in Data Processing and BS degree in Computer Science.

Between receiving the books and preparing the CDs, I learned Fedora Core 4 had been released. I thought “excellent” as my intention was to use the most current available as I plan to use it for many years to come. Obviously 6.1 would work, but would not be best. I also would like X Windows as well which my older machine definitely can not support.

I’ve spent much of the last THREE WEEKS reviewing and attempting installations and it appears Fedora is impossible.

Here are my findings –

Red Hat Linux 9 appears to work well and installs correctly. All updates provided by Red Hat install and appear to work correctly. The updates provided by the Fedora Legacy group appear to also install and update correctly. No problems on functionality of RHL 9 except I’d like something more recent.

RHL 9 is a possible candidate for my plans, but I’d have to manually configure my DNS for internal/external views as the GUI tool included does not understand such things.

In comes Fedora Core 4 … I make the CDs, I install the product, and with a fast processor and lots of space, I select Everything for package choice, around 6-7G as I recall. It takes a while to install it all.

Well I’ve done his several times and each time I go to use the updates, I find them broken. I’ve seen (since July 30) problems with some polish update which can not resolve some issues and breaks the update process. I’ve seen situations of dependencies not satisfied.

The short form – I’ve not been able to freshly install Fedora Core 4 completely, with the Everything option used AND install all of the available updates, without some error or errors preventing the successful completion.

So, I think, I did buy Fedora Core 3 books and it has been out a little longer, perhaps it may be actually stable and works now?

I’ve tried Fedora Core 3 and when I install everything with it, I have other problems, apparently SELinux related.

The conclusion is the same – both appear broken in terms of the currently available updates.

Some of the problems appear SElinux related, as if the updates install (as I recall Fedora Core 3 does), upon reboot, I have a list of SElinux errors during boot which were not there before the updates were installed. I do not feel like fixing problems on a product which should at least install and update the first time without an issue. It’s like buying a new car and finding the wheels all fall off on the way home!

I seriously wonder how the release is approved for distribution with the problems I’ve seen during the last three weeks. It takes close to 9 hours from start to finish to install and update either release. That allows two attempts per day if timed for one to pass during some sleeping hours.

During my hunt for answers, I learned of the 30 day eval for the enterprise version of the AS server product. Since I take at 6-8 hours of college credit a semester to maintain my Micro$oft $kill$, I am eligible to also spend $50 on the academic offer they have. I plan to take courses for the next several years, hence I am eligible to install and maintain their AS product for $50 per year if it works.

My current plan is to download the AS product and see how well it works or fails. I’ve used Linux for a long time and have never seen the problems I have with the Fedora stuff.

Questions –

Has anyone else recently installed Fedora Core 3 or 4 and installed Everything for the package option and successfully ran a full update on it after it was installed? Success means all updates install, no dependency problems, no SElinux added warnings or errors after a reboot after the updates.

It appears the Red Hat Linux Enterprise AS product is available as an eval for 30 days free, as an academic priced for $50 a year, and as a commercial product priced at some much higher price.