Very Computer

Hello:

I have a new Pentium 150 PCI w/ 32Mb and 1.8Gb drive.  It was purchased as
an upgrade to our current Internet server (an upgraded IBM PS/Valuepoint
486DX4 100 w/ 16Mb and 580Mb drive, running Slackware 3.0 kernel 1.3.20).
The current set up has been running *flawlessly* with 1.3.20, even though
that's not really considered to be a stable kernel.

There have been a lot of developments in Linux and the GNU world since I
brought up the server in October, so I'd like to upgrade the software as
well.  The first thing I tried out was Red Hat 3.0.3.  I gave it the old
college try, but let me just say that "it wasn't for me".

Therefore I think I will stick with Slackware.  The question is, should I
stick with Slackware 3.0 and just upgrade the kernel and applications, or
is Slackware "96" (3.1?) worth purchasing.  What kind of bugs and security
issues have been uncovered wrt the new release?

Also...I have dealt with a myriad of security issues on my existing system
(subscribing to the alert list) but I didn't have the foresight to archive
the alerts.  So I am worried about leaving holes when I get the new system
set up.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

---------------< LINUX: The choice of a GNU generation. >---------------
Steve Frampton                           http://qlink.queensu.ca/~3srf

--< NOTICE!  I do not accept unsolicited commercial e-mail messages! >--

I myself am a Slackware person, yet I tell newbies to install RedHat. If
I can get a basic installation made, I feel I can take it from there. I
still look into the Slackware96 directory at cdrom.com to see if
anything importaint has changed.

Slackware makes me grow as a administrator. Before Slackware96 was out,
I had upgraded my libs and a lot of my applications, daemons,
etc.....and I had to do it by hand. RedHat really makes it simple to
upgrade packages, but I want to see what is taking place a little
closer. I'm NOT knocking RedHat, just explaining why Slackware is my
choice.

Who knows....if I keep at it, I might learn how to un-rpm a package from
the command line.

I took a different approach - I upgraded from Slackware 3.0 to the new
kernel (currently I am at 2.0.12).  It took the better part of a day to
iron everything out, but it would have taken that long to do a complete
upgrade to 96 anyway.  I did, however, get perl 5.003 from the Slackware
96 distribution, and it worked without a hitch, so they appear to be
similar enough to go either way and even switch between the 2 upgrade
paths with few if any problems.  For some GREAT info on upgrading
Slackware 3.0 check out http://www.announce.com/hallow/linux/2.0.html

Jay Bratcher

"tag lines suck"

Quote:>Who knows....if I keep at it, I might learn how to un-rpm a package from
>the command line.

michaelkjohnson

"Ever wonder why the SAME PEOPLE make up ALL the * theories?"