When I install new software or run updates, old versions of software are replaced with new. I am wondering by what criteria Fedora chooses to make an update. Do they update a package because it is more stable or are the willing to update a package to the very latest version to give the newest features, even if it might be unstable? Or do they simply add new packages to the repositories just whenever someone decides to package up a newer version?

And the Answer Is: The newer the better (sort of). That’s why FC is referred to as “bleeding edge”.

Packages spend some time in FC5 “testing” before they are released as FC5 updates.

If you go to any FC5 mirror and follow the path to “updates”, you will notice that one option is “testing”, where the “testing” versions may one day be released into FC5. You can use the “testing” rpms by enabling /etc/yum.repos.d /fedora-updates-testing-mirrorlist.repo.

But calling it “testing” is a little misleading. FC itself is a testing-type distro, similar to Debian Etch/testing. When you include “testing” in your update path, you move closer to Debian Sid/unstable.

RedHat has an article comparing Fedora and RHEL where they talk a little about stability vs. bleeding edge: http://www.redhat.com/magazine/019ma...fedora_rhel_1/

i am not to familiar with fc but, i favor the tried and true most of the time. sometimes the edgy stuff is the only stuff that will do what you want.
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