Recommended method for upgrading FC X to FC X+1 ?

[sliptrap]

I'm hoping to get some advice on the best way to upgrade from from FC 4 to FC 5.

The choices seem to be:
-a. do a "fresh" install, then re-install any locally added software and configuration changes
-b. do an "upgrade" install, (hopefully) preserving locally added software and configuration changes
-c. upgrade via yum (apparently not recommended)

-b. would seem to be the best choice (less work), but are there advantages to doing a "fresh" install?

Here are some references I've found (and quotes therefrom):

1. http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/fedora...ng-system.html
- Install Fedora Core
Choose this option to freshly install your system. Existing software and data may be overwritten depending on your configuration choices.
- Upgrade an existing installation
Choose this option if you would like to upgrade your existing Fedora Core system. This option will preserve the existing data on your drives.

2. http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DistributionUpgrades
Doing a clean installation and then restoring user data from backups is known to work better.
You can do an upgrade using the installation CD/DVDs, which is the recommended method.

3. http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/YumUpgradeFaq
Although upgrades with yum have been tested and work, live upgrades are not recommended by the Fedora Project.
If you are not prepared to resolve issues on your own if things break, you should probably use the recommend installation methods instead. (i.e., 1.)

Since FC 4 was my first Linux install, any recommendations would be appreciated.

Dave

[multescugeorge@]

When the time comes, i'll make a update to FC5 from the CD's. If i find the system is sluggish or with broken packages, then i'll make the clean install with the data from /home partition intact, so most of the settings will carry on into FC5. I'll have to reinstall some things (mplayer, xmms-mp3, flash ...) but it will be a relative easy job.

[Jman]

The advantage to a clean install is that you are guarenteed to remove junk left behind, old data, bad packages, etc. Of course the bad part is that you have to recreate everything.

Some go for a seperate /home partition.

Upgrades directly with yum may work, but can also break your packages with such a big jump.