[H-GEN] RedHat 8.0 issues

[Tony Nugent]

[ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and     ]
[ Unix-related topics. Posts from non-subscribed addresses will vanish. ]

On Sun Mar 16 2003 at 10:28, R&J Stuart wrote:

(hehe... I _have_ to bite on this one :-)

(and apologies for the redhat-egocentric-ness of this discussion:)

> I've noticed a few people making passing comments about RH 8.0 and how it
> has a few issues.  I have been even more happy with RH 8.0 than 7.3.  I have
> a few 7.3 boxes at work (the only reason my desktop hasn't changed is
> inertia - its been up 200days which is when I last got a new PC), but
> everything at home is now 8.0.  I've not been happy with previous .0
> releases (and even the .1 releases) from RedHat,

Ouch, they have bitten me badly.  Both 6.0 and 7.0 were very buggy.
And 7.1 had its issues too.  (In contrast, 6.2 was - still is - a
very stable platform, as long as it is completely updated).

> but 8.0 is quite the
> exception for me.  The only small gripe I have with 8.0 is the default
> window manager is a lot less (easily?) configurable than previous ones.

Exactly, that frustrated me completely.  The issue is now resolved
for the upcoming 8.1 release, but for a long time the redhat psyche
mailing list was full of complaints and cries orf help about this.
Some web pages have since appeared that have some good howtos and
tips for getting it under control in 8.0, but it mostly requires
hand-editing a bunch of config files.

> RH 7.3 has the version of gcc that people don't like and isn't recommended
> for compiling kernels...

<shrug> yes, I've seen this a lot, but despite the warnings it has
never failed for me.  And I do a lot of recompiling (rebuilding
.src.rpm files etc).  Besides, (if I recall) gcc in valhalla has
been heavily patched to resolve some or most of the original issues
people had with it.

> What issues do people have with RH8.0?

For a newbie, got for it - if you want to use redhat, then 8.0 is a
great place to start.

The desktop issues are what turned me off it right away.  It was a
radical change, imho it needs maturing, and I'm sure that will
happen.  For my personal workstation, I'd rather wait for the next
release rather than cope with a troublesome desktop :)  So with no
motivation to use it, I had no motivation to deply it - for the
moment I'm staying with what works and what I know well.

Also concerned with the desktop, redhat have pulled mp3 support out
of everything (for fears of copywrite complications).  This probably
won't change, but thanks to http://freshrpms.net/ there is all
manner of useful tools and multi-media apps available ready to
install onto rh 7.3 and 8.0 boxes (including the missing mp3
support).

As a server box, I am aware that rh8.0 does an excellent job.  (Just
keep it updated!)  In fact, I'm using its sendmail-8.12.7 src.rpm on
redhat 7.3 (recompiled after a few deft edits to the .spec file) so
that I can use the updated functionality in the 8.12.x versions.
(Works well btw).

For me, the big issue is: why upgrade just for the sake of it?  If
things weren't working or become unfixable, or I desperately need
some new functionality that only an upgrade would provide, then I'd
have more motivation.  But rh7.{2,3} have never failed me, either on
the desktop or as a server.  (I'm not a "bleeding edge" person:-)

Personally, I'm waiting until the end of the year before I start
doing any more serious upgrades.  But that time the 2.6.x kernels
will be here, so that'll be a good time to move on.

Meanwhile, I'll certainly look at 8.1 when it arrives, and I'm also
looking at other distros besides redhat.

Why am I using redhat?  Mainly because I ended up working with it
several years ago and got to know it extremely well (especially as a
server).  Like all distros it has its quirks, but I have found
redhat to be a solid platform for running linux.

> Regards,
> 
> Robert

Cheers
Tony

--
* This is list (humbug) general handled by majordomo at lists.humbug.org.au .
* Postings to this list are only accepted from subscribed addresses of
* lists 'general' or 'general-post'.  See http://www.humbug.org.au/