Package Updating in Fedora 7
 

Hey all,

I am running Fedora 7 on my work computer and will likely install Fedora 8 on my personal computer. I've played with linux a lot over the past few years, but it has largely been constrained to live-cd's and installations that I never really used. Now that I'm committed to migrating, I'm very confused by the package updating process.

It seems like there's at least 10+ packages which need updating every few days. Should I just install all the recommended packages or is there a logic to which ones I should install? It's beginning to feel like my WinXP install where there is a new update everyday.

Any clarification is appreciated!

Scott

If you have a broadband connection, I don't see why you wouldn't want to keep your system up to date. Isn't there an update manager, which tells you if package updates are available. If not, just run yum update when you first log in each day.

Well, I guess that's kind of my question.

In Windows XP, I don't download an update unless I KNOW I need it because Windows Update is the quickest way to bloat you system and probably even screw it up.

So, are all of these updates necessary? Will installing them all kill my system performance?

The update manager only lists updates for packages that are already installed on your computer, so most of them will probably be necessary (althout you probably can do without them). Fedora is a fast moving distro and continously undergoing development, so their packages are updated on a regular basis.

Another difference in the Linux updates and windows updates are that you are getting fixes for the applications in addition to the operating system. So more frequent updates will be seen. For example, I'd consider packages like Open Office, GIMP, Pidgin IM, FireFox, and so on, to be applications that run on the OS, but they are updated by the same package managers.

In generally don't upgrade unless I see some security issues listed in the fixes. I watch for Kernel, IPTABLES, and Open SSH updates and tend to take these ASAP since they tend to be security related.

In general, you don't see bulletins that come out saying that a patch for Linux was release because someone figured out how to take over your system. In windows, this seems to happen more often.

You are still thinking in the windows frame of mind, Linux != Windows
I don't understand how updates would kill system performance

Don't forget about any new dependencies for updated packages ...

I find, particulalry on my Fedora installs, that there are tons of packages I simply don't use (OpenOffice comes to mind, but I may be an exception there). If you want to reduce the updates, three suggestions.

1. Remove packages you don't use. You can always reinstall with yum later. This is probably more trouble than it's worth.

2. Turn off update-sd and manually update once a week or whenever suits rather than everytime you tunr the sucker on.

3. Remember that Fedora is a bleeding edge distro, so it gets more updates anyway. Consider using CentOS instead (very closely related to Fedora), which will look and feel pretty much the same, but has many times fewer updates

Otherwise, just put up with it I'm afraid.

I suppose that was a misprint ... but I think you meant "yum-updatesd".

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Yes, as has been said, I'm still stuck in a windows frame of mind. And a good point was made that MS rushes work around code into windows update to fix the latest crop of viruses. Obviously, this results in buggy and slow operation. I guess this doesn't really happen in Linux :)

Regarding CentOS. I installed it once and it felt very... spartan. I guess this is because I've been used to Fedora and other "everything is installed" live-cd's. Does CentOS have the same add-on support that Fedora does? That is to say, can I get it up to a plush level that I'm used to in Fedora without too much trouble? Much appreciated!!!

Scott

True, I overlooked that one.

CentOS is a little more server, and security centric than the Fedora branch. Out of the box it will not have all the same eye candy that Fedora has, because it is not meant for general desktop use. This does not mean you can't install all the goodies that come with Fedora.