[K12OSN] Release cycle too fast

[Jim Kronebusch]

> I might decide to try out Debian exactly because of
> the long release cycle.  I maintain computers for a
> lot of family members who have very basic needs.
> 
> Thanks to all for answering so many of my questions on
> this topic.

>From what I hear Debian, CentOS, WBEL, RHEL, etc are slow release versions.  
K12LTSP is built from Fedora because it is a fast paced new release type 
distro and it allows the ability to be constantly changing which works great 
in a constant development stage.  I love the fast pace of K12LTSP.  Now for 
my main servers, I don't use it.  I have a few hundred customers for which I 
sell email,dns,mysql,web,etc services to.  I want to have those machine run 
with as little interaction as possible and feel fairly safe that updates 
won't be so drastic as to change my config files or risk a service going 
down even for a few hours.  I have chosen WBEL which is a generic free 
spinoff of RHEL for those servers.  I still get a very RedHat feel so it is 
similar to what I am used to when working with Fedora and K12 so it make 
switching back and forth very friendly for me.

The point is you have to choose an OS that fits your needs.  If you are 
running desktop systems for fairly computer illiterate users just for 
browsing the internet and word processing, then choose something like RHEL 
or a spinoff.  But if you want to take advantage of new features asap then 
choose something like Fedora.  

Keep in mind the other problems you'll have with your less techy users using 
a slow moving distro however.  Say they want to plug in a USB pen drive, 
oohh, that feature might not be available yet.  Say they want to scan with 
the new scanner they bought, they may have waisted their money.  You get the 
picture.  A non techy user is also the first to get frustrated when the 
stuff they buy doesn't just bang work when they plug it in.  And when you 
tell them that feature won't be available for another year or they have to 
blow the system away and start from scratch with a new OS to get it, you may 
loose them back to a pirated copy of Windows from their neighbor.

I know it is tough with all of the options and versions available out 
there.  The best thing is to try them out and find what suits you best.  I 
have settled on different versions for desktop and servers.  And for LTSP 
you can throw it on any distro you want, you will just be missing the 
bundled apps you get with K12LTSP.  I managed to even throw a version on YDL 
and PPC Ubuntu, so your possibilities are fairly endless.

And as far as upgrades, I have my home K12LTSP server performing a yum 
upgrade while I type this email.  I hope when I am done I'll be running the 
newest version of K12 without any extra CD's.  But as far as major 
distribution updates go, such as Fedora Core1 to Core2, I am still brought 
back to my Windows Nature.  I never do upgrades on major releases, too much 
risk of old crap and old problems following with.  Just as you could upgrade 
from say 7.3->Fedora Core3 as stated in a previous email, you could have 
upgraded from Windows95->WindowsXP, but no techy in their right mind would 
do so :-)  But that doesn't mean the standard home user still can't.



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