[svlug] RedHat Linux end-of-life decisions

[David Chait]

> 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

Actually it's more of a problem than that really, any significant change to
the OS can and will break software which your company very well may depend
on. Why risk the downtime for hundreds or thousands of people? Weather or
not the problems could be fixed is irrelivent, the fact remains every time
one comes up, a key system could be hosed for hours or even days in the
process of fixing it. That in the long run costs more both financially and
politically than anything RedHat could ask for. Again, different situation,
as a developer, you can afford to have your machine down for an hour or so
while you fix an issue, my users would lynch me.

-David