[svlug] RedHat Linux end-of-life decisions

[Karen Shaeffer]

On Sun, Jan 25, 2004 at 01:48:13PM -0800, David Chait wrote:
> 
> I wouldn't go so far as to say it is improoved. It really depends on your
> circumstances, most people prefer stability to bleeding edge tech for
> production environments. I could never see myself changing the OS on a
> production box once every 4 - 6 months to keep up with Fedora's release
> pace.

I will agree that it is not wise for novices or over-worked sysadmins (who
have a personal life to maintain) to live on the edge. But there are simple
ways to automate maintenance of a Fedora installation, so it really isn't as
daunting as one might suspect. And if you minimize the install to only what
is essential, then things are much more direct. The problem is that novices
load up all the GUI based management tools and have no clue how to fix
something when the GUI fails them. So I would exclude all GUI management
tools, when determining what is a minimal install. Consequently I would
concur and not suggest that novices use Fedora on servers. They should pay
Red Hat or hire a local expert.

(Of course, I am not a good person to give advise in these matters. I'm more
of a developer than a system administrator. An I don't buy into the legacy
business model, where you pay big system integrators (like Red Hat) to put
out mass produced solutions. I believe the power of open source is
customized deploys that are optimized for the business needs of a given
group. I shudder at the thought of paying Red Hat for software...)

cheers,
Karen
-- 
 Karen Shaeffer
 Neuralscape, Palo Alto, Ca. 94306
 shaeffer at neuralscape.com  http://www.neuralscape.com