Upgrade from rh7.2 to 8.0

[nmeyers at javalinux.net (Nathan Meyers)]

On Tue, Dec 10, 2002 at 07:55:09PM -0500, jbk wrote:
> I am interested in upgrading my home
> server.  It
> seems from posts here people prefer
> blowing away
> their previous version and installing
> annew (
> retaining backed up config files of course
> ).  I
> would prefer to go the upgrade path, but
> would
> reconsider if there was recent evidence
> that this
> is not the way to go.
> 
> let's here it

I've had terrible luck upgrading both RH and Mandrake - it seems the
surest way to turn a working system into a broken one. It should work
better than it does... but, well, it doesn't for me :-(.

My practice is to keep enough spare disk around to host a new install
without hosing the old one. Dual-boot for awhile as I get all the
customizations moved over to the new system (and, of course, keep my
/home on its own partition so it's easy to share between both systems).
Finally, when the new system looks 100%, I pull the plug on the old
system.

BTW, I recently tried and rejected Mandrake 9.0. It looked OK until
I ran a Perl/Tk script of mine and saw it pin the CPU and cripple the
system. Why a mature technology like Perl/Tk should suddenly go south
is a mystery - possibly due to any number of changes in any number of
dependent libraries - and it's one I don't have the time or inclination
to solve on my own.

Nathan Meyers
nmeyers at javalinux.net