[Beowulf] Re: A press release

[Tim Cutts]

On 4 Jul 2008, at 10:11 pm, R P Herrold wrote:

> On Fri, 4 Jul 2008, Tim Cutts wrote:
>
>> If upgrading packages wrecks the system, then the package  
>> installation scripts are broken.  They should spot the upgrade in  
>> progress and take appropriate action, depending on the previously  
>> installed version.  This can be quite a detailed process for Debian  
>> packages, which is probably why they have fewer problems than Red  
>> Hat in this regard.  See http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-maintainerscripts.html#s-mscriptsinstact 
>>  if you're interested in how it works for Debian packages.
>
> well, no so much.  The 2.4 to 2.6 kernel transition was handled no  
> better by Debian 'testing', than CentOS/Red Hat derived.  ;)

Well, yes.  That's, er, why it's called "testing".  :-) You're  
comparing apples to oranges.  If you upgraded a 2.4 kernel sarge  
system (which was a stable release) to etch (which uses 2.6.18) you'll  
probably find it goes quite well.

If you're running production services off the testing track, you can  
probably expect to get burned occasionally.

Tim


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