On Thu, Nov 06, 2003 at 09:42:43AM -0000, Paul wrote: > So, just downloaded it and installed it. Entered "yum" on the command > line and then had a guess and did "yum install". Huge list of packages > were listed and got an error at the end. Tried "yup update" after that > and 2 packages got updated. > > In the meantime, I've been looking for documentation. Can't find any at > http://www.linux.duke.edu/projects/yum. I see references to a draft > Howto on this list, but can't find the actual Howto. Can someone point > me to it? Try 'man yum' and 'man yum.conf'. A recent draft of the yum howto can be found here: http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/General/yum_HOWTO.php Note: this is the third link when you do type "yum howto" into google. > More generally, I'm uncertain what to do regarding a Linux distro for my > server. It isn't live yet so now is the perfect time to change distro > if need be. I'm seeking stability above all else. Apart from apps > included with RH8, I'm running MailScanner, SpamAssassin and 42go (a web > based management tool). I access the server over the Internet. > > My current web server is 3 years old and I imagine getting about the > same life out of the new one. So, given I want to have minimal downtime > for 3 years (no complete reinstall during this time) then should I take > my chances with RH8 and use yum to apply security patches or bite the > bullet and switch to another distro? The distros supported by > MailScanner and 42go limit me to SUSE, Debian or Mandrake. I've had > recommendations for all of them, but if possible I'd rather just stick > with what I've got, so long as I could be confident that security > updates would be available for a few years. I"m not sure I'd be confident of that for any of them, frankly. 3 years is a long time in this world. Yum will allow you (or has in many cases) to do in-place distribution upgrades. That is, I've seen people go from RHL 8.0 to RHL 9, and even from RHL 7.3 to RHL 9. OK, there's more to it than just typing 'yum upgrade', but it can be done. However, if your system is that important, then you're going to want to test on another box first to make sure nothing breaks, etc. In that case, you might as well install a second machine and swap quickly. -Michael -- Michael Stenner Office Phone: 919-660-2513 Duke University, Dept. of Physics mstenner@xxxxxxxxxxxx Box 90305, Durham N.C. 27708-0305
