Hi Les et al: I am sure that you understand most of my previous reply was written with a bit of my tongue in part of my cheek. However ... On Mon, 2007-01-22 at 21:05 -0600, Les Mikesell wrote: > William Case wrote: > > > >>> On the other hand -- there are people like me who like to play around > >>> with Fedora; adding new programs that hardly get used; trying out > >>> different configurations; experimenting and learning. Doing a new > >>> version install lets me get rid of all the cruff and start over every so often. > >>> > >>> > >> So what happens after you've learned something and are ready to do > >> some real work with your system - and then next time that cruft is > >> something worth saving? > >> > >> > > > > Why then, I add the additional programs I want to the fresh install and > > backup the configuration files I want to keep. It is still easier than > > trying to undo all the havoc I might have created over the last six > > months. > > > > > But you won't always be a beginner creating havoc. You'll get to the > point where > you set something up that runs for a year doing something useful > without attention > and you might think that was pretty good. Then when you manage a few > hundred > such boxes, you'll wonder why you are still re-installing one from > scratch every > day. > > -- Your point is well taken. I can feel that day arriving. One thing I wrote in that previous post that I am very serious about was: "Fedora gives you a choice of a full update or a fresh install. Let's keep both." Of all the advantages that Fedora and/or Linux has over other OSes, the best is the number of options and configurations Linux has to offer. 'My way or the door way' feels like the M$ kind of response I am trying to avoid. As long as there are volunteers to create various options, those options should be made available. To me there doesn't have to be one or the other -- 'update' or 'fresh install'. Give people the choice. If the means of upgrading can be improved; discuss it; do it. But don't take away something someone else uses. The release of Fedora 7, 8, ... etc. could mean either a) its time for a fresh install or, b) if you haven't updated lately now would be a good time. -- Regards Bill