upgrading a linux distro
 

First time to upgrade. I am using redhat 9 and need to upgrade to a newer kernel than rh9's latest to use sata hd just purchased.

If I upgrade to fedora core 2 do I lose all the applications I installed in rh9 i.e. xine kino lve? If so what's the difference between an upgrade and a new install?

I don't want to upgrade the kernel only as I have read nightmare stories, and if I go to the trouble I might as well get the whole enchilada.

Jack

Mmm kernel upgrade is easy: download-install-run lilo.
Kernel compile is a bit more complicated ;), but as long you have a brain, you can make it.

but, say I download and install a 2.6 kernel and install, what about backward compatibility with all rh9 and my apps. After all rh9 wasn't really designed for 2.6 kernel or is that a valid thing to say?

thanks for the response

jack

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but, when you install an rpm (newer version of one already installed), don't you get a parallel installation (unless you use rpm -U or rpm -F).

If so, installation of the newer kernel shouldn't affect the currently installed kernel. However, the kernel doesn't work without the modules. So, is /lib/modules included in the kernel rpm, or is /lib/modules in a seperate rpm.

If so, you'd have to also install the modules rpm.

Then there's the bit about copying bzImage and a few others files from the kernel directory to /boot, without overwriting the files of the same name being used by the current kernel. You'd need two vmlinuz files, perhaps two initrd's, two SystemMap's, etc. Files would have to be renamed to distinguish one from the other, and the bootloader conf file edited accordingly.

The final step would be to edit grub.conf?, lilo.conf, or /boot/grub/menu.lst?, or whatever RH uses to present a bootloader menu. Add a new entry for the new kernel.

sounds a little more complicated than point and shoot as linux.tar.gs suggested (2 up). Actually I did find a step-by-step at http://kerneltrap.org/node/view/3106. I also found it duplicated in this forum. A lot of steps but not too frightening.