F16 eol, f17->f18

yaxattax · #1 17th January 2013, 12:11 PM

I'm just writing to ask about the upgrade path from F16->F17->F18

How likely is it to cause problems? How much manual maintenance could be envisioned I might need to do (I understand that this would vary with the currently installed packages I have). Is there anything considerably different that I should know about? Finally, if I were to decide it is too hassle-some to upgrade all my workstations, would there be any serious consequences to not doing so?

I understand that these are fairly hand-wavy questions that can't necessarily be answered without some certain information from me, but I don't know what to provide, so I just ask these questions and let the dialogue evolve.

Cheers

nonamedotc · #2 17th January 2013, 04:13 PM

Considering the time it takes for F16 to upgrade first to F17 and then to F18 and then deal with potential problems, I would just do a clean install. I would back up everything I want to a backup drive and wipe the HDD and do a clean install.

yaxattax · #3 17th January 2013, 04:18 PM

A clean install is really not an option for me. Do you have an opinion on how "bad" it would be to stay on F16?

nonamedotc · #4 17th January 2013, 04:28 PM

If a system is working, there is not much reason to change it (in my opinion) unless one wants to. I know of some people using older versions of Fedora (even 14) and not having any problems.

Having said that, once F16 reaches EOL, you won't get security updates anymore. So, it might be a security issue - that's the big thing. Of course, newer installations would also have newer versions of various programs which will have enhancements/.bugfixes.

yaxattax · #5 17th January 2013, 04:32 PM

I am very tempted not to change. But for me, one of the big reasons to use linux is the ease with which I can get updates. Not being able to have them anymore is a bit of a downer, but I suppose it remains to be seen how much impact this will actually have... maybe not for a few years

nonamedotc · #6 17th January 2013, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yaxattax

I am very tempted not to change. But for me, one of the big reasons to use linux is the ease with which I can get updates. Not being able to have them anymore is a bit of a downer, but I suppose it remains to be seen how much impact this will actually have... maybe not for a few years

Please don't get me wrong here. I am not saying it is not possible to update from F16->F17->F18. I have not done such an upgrade with Fedora. But, I have upgraded from F16 to F17. It just takes a while and that's what I was referring to!

yaxattax · #7 17th January 2013, 05:59 PM

I appreciate what you've been saying, but after you made that comment, I realised I might have had some unrealistic expectations about just how easy it might be to upgrade. A clean install isn't worth the effort(to me), and if that is shorter than taking the upgrade path + fixing problems, I'm not really going to want to go the upgrade way. Ultimately, for me, this question is about minimal interruption (my linux boxes are either my servers, or my workstations), and the ideal situation would be to just click a button (figuratively) and reboot the next day and voila. I guess in some sense, I am wanting to know just how risky will it be to perform this upgrade (F16 -> F18, since I don't want to have to deal with EOL problems again in 6 months)? E.g are certain packages known to cause problems? Or hardware? Stability is much more important to me than being bleeding edge, but I'd like to be reasonably up to date all the same.

beaker_ · #8 17th January 2013, 06:42 PM

Run CentOS on your servers, that'll cut your work in half. As for your desktops: it takes minutes to install from a live disc so keep track of whats installed in a text file. So when time comes, you just install from a live disc and then let yum install (eat actually) everything in your text file. Al the while you're out skiing. Yeah, seperate partition for your home directory and keep backups of your configs never hurt.