Simplifying RPM management with RHN/up2date, yum, apt, rcd, etc...

[Exile In Paradise]

Hopefully its not just me, but there seem to a proliferation of software
update mechanisms in play for RHL/FC.

Under RH9, I had rpm updates coming from RHN/up2date, APT, YUM, and even
Red-Carpet all at the same time.

Anytime anyone had an update, I eventually got in the habit of checking
them all and then finally up2date -p to push the results of all those
updates back to RHN.

All of these methods are slightly different layers on top of the same
basic RPM functionality, but they are not able to be managed and used
from the same rhn-applet and up2date program.

I really like the RHN Applet on the toolbar telling me things are okay
or not okay (see my other thread about blinkenlight LED panels)... and a
single run of up2date to make things okay when they aren't.

Is there are simple way to get all of these various software update
mechanisms moved into a single management app?  Does anyone know how to
get all of the various sources "configured" under the same
umbrella/front-end?

I see that up2date has a sources file that accepts both APT and YUM
repository information, but I have seen in other emails on this list
that some stunning breakage can occur if the the chicken-at-heart(me)
go mucking around in there without a clear and precise definition of
what needs to be added where.

If a repository is APT, it should be added to the apt.conf AND sources?
If a repository is YUM, it should be added to the yum.conf AND sources?
What conflicts tend to come up using APT and YUM sources together?

Is there a list somewhere of all the apt, yum, etc repositories that are
cooperating to ensure no conflicts occur in the rpms they are packaging
that also shows what the correct/exact entries that needed to be added
are?

Being new to FC1, I am hesitant to add new sources to rhn/up2date and
apt or yum without a clear idea of what channel names and such are
supposed to be used.

In this case, with the many "management apps" for the same RPM process,
things are getting more complex rather than simpler, and too much
complexity will leave Windows Update service being the one grandma stays
with... if you catch my drift?

-- 
Exile In Paradise
The optimist thinks that this is the best of all possible worlds,
and the pessimist knows it.
		-- J. Robert Oppenheimer, "Bulletin of Atomic Scientists"
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