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
