I second that. You couldn't have written a better explanation with all the relevant points. Levi Kemp -----Original Message----- From: k12osn-bounces redhat com on behalf of Mel Wade Sent: Fri 1/4/2008 6:16 AM To: Support list for open source software in schools. Subject: Re: [K12OSN] What are the "K12LTSP EL" releases? Terrell, You should add that to the Wiki... On 1/3/08, "Terrell Prudé Jr." <microman cmosnetworks com> wrote: > > > > Brandon Kovach wrote: > > Pardon me for being dumb, but what is the k12ltsp EL? More to the point, > what is different between it and k12ltsp? Is it still fedora based? I > think I read a post that said CentOS, but I can't find it now. We've used > the k12 project stuff for 4 years now and have had no trouble, but this > year hasn't been the case. I've had quite some trouble with it. I was > looking at maybe switching to something else ... Edubuntu or maybe doing a > debian build myself. > > BK > > > There are two "kinds" of K12LTSP. The first, called simply "K12LTSP", is > based on Fedora. The second, called "K12LTSP EL" is based on CentOS. Now, > the question is, why two versions? Why not just one? That'll take some > explanation. > > Hold on tight, because you're about to go for a little history tour. :-) > > K12LTSP, back in the day, was based on Red Hat Linux, until Red Hat did > what's known as the "Big Split" in order to actually start making money > (this is a Very Good Thing; we want this to happen!). That split means that > Red Hat Linux became two distributions. > > One's a bleeding-edge, "download for free" version that's on a fast update > cycle, where Red Hat tries out new stuff (e. g. SELinux, new eye candy, and > so on). Development is fast and furious. For that reason, release cycles > are short, as are support cycles. You want a cool, "uber-l33t" new > feature? You want truly beautiful eye candy, bordering on a work of art? > You want something that is specifically and overtly designed to be tweaked > as heavily as your little heart desires? This version likely has all that > and much more. That's Fedora. > > The other one's much more concerned with stability over the long haul, and > it's intended to be certified for use with Big, Expensive Enterprise Apps > (e. g. HP OpenView Network Node Manager or Oracle). It's also explicitly > designed for support intervals that corporations like (read: "long"). As a > result, you get support for a loooong time, but you don't necessarily get > the latest, greatest eye candy or apps. Each version of this distribution > will be supported with security updates for seven years from the date of its > release. Oh, and it costs a lot of money and comes with an official support > contract. That's Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). > > Well, we all know that the GPL requires you to provide source with your > binaries when you distribute any GPL'd software. Red Hat has a long history > of not only GPL compliance, but also outright GPL promotion. Just about > everything Red Hat has ever written or released has been GPL'd (e. g. Red > Hat Directory Server or Anaconda). Thus, even though getting RHEL costs a > lot of money, Red Hat posts all of its source code for it up on its Web > site. They're on record as saying that anyone can download that source code > and re-create RHEL if they wish. > > A few groups of hackers decided to do just that. They downloaded that > source code, recompiled it, and came up with rather faithful clones of RHEL, > and these groupsl let us download it free of charge. The GPL explicitly > permits this. The most successful and famous of these RHEL clones is called > CentOS, for "Community ENTerprise OS." Since CentOS is made of exactly the > same source code as RHEL is, CentOS is on the same *support cycle* as RHEL. > That means SEVEN YEARS OF SECURITY UPDATES...just like RHEL. > > What does this have to do with K12LTSP EL? > > Well, it turned out there was quite large demand for a "Long-Term Support" > release of K12LTSP. Therefore, Eric "Mr. K12LTSP" Harrison made a version > based on CentOS. The first one was K12LTSP 4.2EL, based on CentOS 4. It > will be supported with security fixes until the year 2012. The latest one, > K12LTSP 5.0EL, is based on CentOS 5 and will be supported until the year > 2014. The "EL", of course, stands for "Enterprise Linux" release. > > So, if you want the latest-greatest, and you don't mind updating your OS > every year or so, then go for the "regular" K12LTSP, based on Fedora. For > years, I used "regular" K12LTSP for demos because of the extra eye candy. > On the other hand, if you need long-term support and don't mind not living > on the bleeding edge, then go for the "EL" K12LTSP, based on CentOS. > > NOTE!! Unfortunately, the latest version of "regular" K12LTSP, namely > K12LTSP 6, is based on Fedora Core 6, which just got End-Of-Lifed. That > means no more security updates. That's why K12LTSP 5.0EL is the better > choice at this point. This is *no* slam on Eric Harrison, BTW. Given his > schedule, the fact that he finds time to breathe amazes most of us. > > And now you know what the "K12LTSP EL" releases are. :-) > > --TP > _______________________________ > Do you GNU <http://www.gnu.org>? > Microsoft Free since 2003 <http://www.cmosnetworks.com>--the ultimate > antivirus protection! > > > _______________________________________________ > K12OSN mailing list > K12OSN redhat com > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/k12osn > For more info see <http://www.k12os.org> > -- Mel Wade "The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do." - BF Skinner http://www.melwade.com
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