[OT] Are security updates necessary?

stan goedigi89__e at cox.net
Sun Jun 15 00:43:22 UTC 2008


Mike Bird wrote:
> On Sat June 14 2008 16:37:11 Antonio Olivares wrote:
>   
>> I have run old version of KDE 3.1 from Mandrake 9.1 gotten on internet, no
>> single update whatsoever, and I have been safe.  So it can be done, do you
>> mean other updates, that can be critical, with apps and not the desktop
>> here.
>>     
>
> Some people manage to walk through a minefield without being blown up.
> They were lucky, but not safe.
>
> Security bugs have been fixed in web browsing, email, firewalls,
> displaying pictures, viewing pdfs, and opening documents.  Without
> those fixes your system may not have been compromised (but how to
> be certain, eh?) but you certainly would not have been safe.
>
> Meanwhile, back at the KDE ranch ...
>
> --Mike Bird
>
>   
I don't use KDE as a desktop, just use the applications in Gnome.  So 
maybe this isn't true,  but I think your argument falls apart as far as 
security goes.  I expect no one at KDE will be maintaining 3.5.  No more 
security patches, no more enhancements.  All the work will be on 4.x 
from now on. 

I suggest sticking with Fedora 8 during its lifetime, and seeing how far 
KDE 4 gets in the meantime.  There has already been an update on the KDE 
stuff in Fedora 9.  In 6 months you might consider it usable.

This reminds me of the Vista / XP kerfuffle.  I think that the Fedora 
team might be putting out releases because of a schedule, not because 
there are significant enhancements that are ready.  Maybe they could 
slow the pace down by a month or two.  That being said, I've had only 
two real problems in Fedora 9.  The firefox/pdflush/kjournald contention 
issue that locks up any app doing disk IO, and a problem with the scsi 
driver that fails to read the superblock on my DVDRW most of the time.  
Every release has a few rough edges that get ground down until it is 
comfortable.  I expect these to get resolved as well.

Good luck to you, whichever choice you make.




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