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Does anyone have an opinion on whether the upgrade from Fedora 5 to 6 is worth it? I've just spent two days setting up my new machine with FC5, only to find out FC6 was recently released. I'm not sure I'm up for it again for a while unless there's a pressing reason.
Thanks for any help.
James.
I don't have much experience with Fedora but I enjoyed using Debian. However, if you already have a stable system up and running, unless the new version will satisfy a pressing neeed that the old one doesn't, don't bother.
I use linux alot but all suse
I use a few linux distros (debian, gentoo, ubuntu) and freebsd. Been using *nix for years, no windows in this house. :)
For my desktop I prefer kubuntu.
Yep, linux user here as well (writing this on kubuntu).
You know what they say, if it aint broke...
Look at the feature list of the new version and see if you really need something
from there that you can't have on your current system . If yes, upgrade, if not don't.
Eventually, you will have to upgrade when they stop backporting security updates etc, but until then do whatever you like. That' the linux philosophy.
Redwoood
I used Slack for years, until I got a Mac.
AFIK you can run a good number of distros on Macs.
Thanks for the responses guys. Well, nothing's broke, but I've heard FC6 has NTFS support "built in" which would be handier than my current setup since I run a dual-boot system (with windows - I need it for work). I will check out the release notes for FC6 to see what's new. Cheers.
James.
In any case, upgrading won't be that hard.
I'm not very familiar with Fedora and yum, but I know that on ubuntu and debian, upgrading from one release to the next can be done quite comfortably.
Or, if you have a separate home partition, you could just back up /etc maybe dump your package selections and then just install the new release as if it's a new install. Easy and fast.
Redwoood
Did they also come up with an Ubuntu distro that has NTFS support?
I've read that Ubuntu has "out of the box" NTFS support, but only for reading files and rewritting existing files. I've just shifted from an ntfs kernel module in Fedora to the ntfs-3g package - saves uninstalling the old module and re-installing a new one each time the kernel upgrades. Also has full read/write support. It's still beta, apparantly, but I've had no problems (yet...!).Quote:
Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT
http://www.linux-ntfs.org/component/...page/Itemid,1/
James.
True. Apparently yum will let you do a major upgrade, once you download the necessary rpm. But I've had a look at a few techie forums, and there seems to be a few issues with package dependencies and some things getting broken in the transition. Just don't know if I'm up for it at the moment - work's busy this time of year and I really don't have time to spend another couple of days fixing broken packages unless absolutely necessary.Quote:
Originally Posted by Redwoood
Your second suggestion sounds good. I did set up separate partitions...hmmm, thanks for the tip:tu
James.
There are actually three ways to write to ntfs partitions with ubuntu (reading is possible by default)Quote:
Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT
1. Enable it in the kernel. Requires a rebuild of the kernel, which most people probably won't like
2. use ntfs-3g
3. use fuse and libntfs
So it's not much different from Fedora, I can imagine. All linux distributions are very similar as they pretty much repackage the same product. It's just the presentation and the general framework that is different. If you can accomplish a task with distribution A, chances are you can do it with distribution B, maybe not in the same way, but it can be done.
The reason why enabling write support for ntfs requires additional work from the user to is that it is potentially buggy and harmful to your data.
So use with care.
Redwoood
That's the main reason why I don't use Linux now. I'm scared of corrupting the data on my NTFS storage partition where I keep all of my media. I didn't even bother with reinstalling Linux after reformatting.
I use a dedicated FAT partition to transfer files between linux and windows, and that works rather well.
The reason for the ntfs problems is that microsoft doesn't disclose any details about it, but the linux file systems are open source. So you can reverse the direction and read ext2, for example, from windows with the appropriate driver.
At the end of the day, once you really get into using linux, why would you need access to ntfs anyway? ;)
Redwoood
Because I use some apps whose equivalents can't be found for Linux and ironically I've had stability issues with Windows+fat that got fixed once I switched my storage partition to NTFS.
actually one of those supposedly is now flawless since it uses MS' own DLL to do the reading/writing, but I can't remember wether it was via fuse or the ntfs-3g redwoood mentioned.
edit: it's via ntfs-3g :)
here's a ubuntu howto for those interested.
you can follow the howto, just substitute getting the packages with apt-get for what you use, on fedorah usually yum I suppose?
Yes, ntfs-3g has been added to the 'extras' repository for Fedora (5 & 6), so just yum.Quote:
Originally Posted by harold
I'm not sure ntfs-3g is the flawless one - I was reading the announcement by the developer and I don't think he mentions the windows dll anywhere (http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/f...d_id=23836054). BTW, it's interesting reading, especially the reply from the kernel module developer/maintainer underneath. Is it just me or does he sound a bit cheesed off?
James.
I guess those apps can't be configured in wine? The only thing keeping me using windows is certain apps not working under linux, even with wine. Word processing's a breeze, 'cause open office can import and export (I use LateX anyway, but my colleagues all send me .docs). But the big statistical software packages just won't work for me...yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT
James.
That was another problem. OO still doesn't have the formatting down pat. Then there are compatibility issues with some of my el-cheapo hardware and finally the time I spend on the MSN. Gaim doesn't support the regular CEs
what are CEs?
Custom Emoticons. I know this reason is a bit petty but I've always been very expressive, IRL and online.
oh the smilies :)
why not just use/type them? I absolutely abhor those given with all the messenger clients, they're all so big and over the top. (and your other party sees what they have installed which may be something totally different than you see, there goes your cool effect ;) )
I do type them and I don't like the big ones either. However I do have a bunch of small animated ones. As most people use the MSN Messenger, I can count on them seeing my CEs without any problems. If they could come up with a closer emulation for Linux and a Win driver ripper (especially for my cell and the webcam), or more support, I'd go exclusive.
oh you mean like custom ones that you send? afaik messengers like kopete do that as well, once I forogt to disable image smileys and I got custom smileys from someone else. :)
I've been a Unix sysadmin since July 1988, and a Linux (RedHat) sysadmin since September 1996. Used RedHat/4.x through Fedora Core 5. When they released Fedora Core 6, I downloaded the DVD and tried to upgrade from FC5 to FC6. No go -- it trashed the installation on my RAID1 (mirrored pair) of 40GB Maxtors.Quote:
Does anyone have an opinion on whether the upgrade from Fedora 5 to 6 is worth it?
I'd been interested in Debian for quite a while, and took the opportunity to use the new Debian Etch GUI Installer (Beta). It worked perfectly. The installer is now available as a newer, RC1 version.
Daily use of "apt-get update", followed by "apt-get -y dist-upgrade", the "apt-get clean" keep the installation 'bright and shiny'.
If you're not so comfortable using the CLI, do "apt-get install synaptic" (an excellent GUI-based program installer, which pulls whatever you want from the repositories listed in your /etc/apt/sources.list file, and it also pulls-over any other files on which the program(s) you want are dependent).
I'm waiting patiently for Debian Etch to be released, real soon now (but the beta version is rock-solid).