I beginning to think "obsolete" is better than cutting edge
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| caitlyn Jun 19, 2009 2:23 PM EDT |
Something is obsolete only when it no longer can do the job. I happen to thing Red Hat/CentOS, Ubuntu LTS, and Slackware get it right. Going with the latest and greatest every six months as the most popular distros do has resulted in bugs and breakage and only hurts Linux adoption. Hanging back a version or two and delivering a problem free OS and apps is the way to go. R-C gets it right this time. |
| techiem2 Jun 19, 2009 2:27 PM EDT |
"Cutting Edge is anything you can't afford, Obsolete is anything you own." :P |
| gus3 Jun 19, 2009 2:31 PM EDT |
It was told to me that the first Space Shuttles used core memory. Where human lives are involved, NASA can be very skittish about newer computer technology. If something's going to break, they want to know how it will break and plan the work-around. New tech doesn't have the long-range performance statistics that old tech has. |
| caitlyn Jun 19, 2009 2:36 PM EDT |
When we're talking about a Linux distro the slightly older tech also has all the serious bugs fixed. Red Hat/CentOS are also good about porting additional (newer) hardware support as well as patches and bugfixes into their somewhat older kernel. The result is a bit of a Frankenkernel but Red Hat has enough kernel hackers on staff to maintain and support it well. The Slackware approach is different. They stay pretty current (but not quite leading edge) on the kernel but hang back on things that might be problematic, like X.org. Either approach works better, IMHO, than what Ubuntu, Mandriva, and Fedora are doing. The point gus3 makes also applies. For mission critical applications you want reliability and stability more than anything else. Those become primary concerns. That's why Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu and Turbolinux all went with the philosophy of longer release cycles and somewhat older software for their enterprise offerings. I've come to believe that approach is also best for pretty much everyone except the computer hobbyist. |
| rijelkentaurus Jun 19, 2009 3:02 PM EDT |
Agreed. However, I don't think we should lump Fedora in with Ubtuntu, Mandriva. Fedora is cutting edge, it's meant to be on the cusp of what is possible. You can go with Red Hat if you want stability, running Fedora is akin to running Debian Sid, and the same dangers apply. PCLOS and Mepis have it together on the desktop, maintaing rather new packages and great stability. I have used them both with great success. |
| caitlyn Jun 19, 2009 3:19 PM EDT |
@rijelkentaurus - I don't disagree with you about the intent and purpose of Fedora. However, some in the Fedora Project don't always portray it that way. Many of the distro's fans also get really bent out of shape if you point out the expected bugs. |
| Steven_Rosenber Jun 19, 2009 6:51 PM EDT |
I had a geek breakdown when I went through the 20 or so steps needed to upgrade my OpenBSD laptop from 4.4 to 4.5 only to see Xorg basically brick the install. And OpenBSD is supposed to be relentlessly stable and with few regressions ... only not so much. |
| hkwint Jun 19, 2009 7:25 PM EDT |
Quoting:I happen to thing Red Hat/CentOS, Ubuntu LTS, and Slackware get it right. May I add Gentoo? KDE 4 still 'masked' as of today (considered experimental, 3.5 'stable'), they're still using Xorg 1.5; which they only considered stable about a month ago. They're not longer cutting edge (unless the user decides so; you can easily try Firefox 3.6 from its package system if you want, but sadly it didn't compile for me). |
| techiem2 Jun 19, 2009 7:56 PM EDT |
Yes hkwint. If you stick to the stable build set, you can keep a fairly good Gentoo system up. It may not be cutting edge, but it will be nice and solid. Of course, I tend to do a mix of stable and unstable myself....:P |
| rijelkentaurus Jun 19, 2009 9:24 PM EDT |
@Caitlyn. Agreed on Fedora, they should keep themselves and their distro in perspective. They should take some measure of pride in being absolutely critical to the success of Red Hat. Perhaps their motto should be, "You saw it here first." |
| Steven_Rosenber Jun 19, 2009 10:55 PM EDT |
Bricking ones primary workstation is a bad, bad thing ... Once I went from experimenting and testing FOSS to using it day to day, I stopped distro-hopping and went for the most stable stuff possible (that I was comfortable with, anyway): Debian (Etch ... now Lenny) Ubuntu (LTS) CentOS (I've used versions 3 and 5) OpenBSD (worked great from 4.2 to 4.4 ... not so much in 4.5, and tortuous upgrade path has me rethinking ...) |
| hkwint Jun 19, 2009 11:03 PM EDT |
Quoting:not so much in 4.5 Wait a few months, it will soon be November. |
| Steven_Rosenber Jun 19, 2009 11:20 PM EDT |
Quoting:Wait a few months, it will soon be November I could try -current now, but I will wait for Nov. and the live CDs from the next release before I do any installs. Truth be told, I'm enjoying my return to Linux (Debian and Ubuntu) too much at present. |
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