Agreed, with the possible exception of Debian if
you're doing (daily|weekly) OS upgrades to keep
everything up to date.  apt seems to "just work."

Also, for "full blown" OS upgrades (like, say,
an increment in the major version number), using
two hard disks can make the transition entirely
painless.

Since it can take some time to get all of the
packages properly configured exactly the way 
you want them, and since there are times when
you need your system to be available, I unplug
my old disk, plug in a new disk, install the
base OS and all of the packages I need on the
new disk and start configuring.  If at any time
I really need my system available (to get a file
for someone or to look something up on the net),
I just switch back to my old disk and voila!
*NOTHING* has changed, and I'm fully operational
with the *EXACT* system I had before.  Worst
case, if the new install is not working out,
I can just abort the whole attempt and nothing
will have changed (except the output of "uptime").
When the new disk is totally configured and ready
to go, I plug in both disks and just transfer any
needed data from the old disk to the new disk.

Ja, ja, one could do something similar with
partition finagling or LILO finagling, but
for me I get a stronger false sense of security
knowing that my current system is totally unplugged
thus reducing the likelihood that something on
it will be changed.


D

* On Mon, Dec 25, 2000 at 02:30:36AM -0700, Jose D Castillo wrote:
> you may not want to hear this, but in my opinion upgrading and OS,
> regardless of the vendor, is not a good thing. Save yourself some
> headaches and backup the data you need and then just install the new OS
> version from scratch. Then take 2 aspirin and call the PLUG in the
> morning.
> 
> Live long and prosper.
> 
> On Sat, 23 Dec 2000, Craig White wrote:
> 
> > Didn't expect Redhat upgrade to be so difficult but when upgrading from 6.1
> > to 7.0 - apparently their binaries are significantly different...most
> > notably apparent is kerberos - or so I believe.
> > 
> > try to start lpd and get:  (worked fine before upgrade)
> >  lpd: error while loading shared libraries: libkrb5.so.3: cannot open shared
> > object file: No such file or directory
> > 
> > check mail with mail client from another computer (worked fine before
> > upgrade)
> >  Server response: ipop3d: error while loading shared libraries:
> > libgssapi_krb5.so.2: cannont open shared object file: No such file or
> > directory
> > 
> > try to start checkpc and get: (don't know if it worked before upgrade)
> >  checkpc: error while loading shared libraries: libkrb5.so.3: cannot open
> > shared object file: No such file or directory
> > 
> > try to start samba and get: (worked fine before upgrade)
> >  smbd: error while loading shared libraries: libdes425.so.3: cannot open
> > shared object file: No such file or directory
> > 
> > have installed the following updates & bug fixes...
> > LPR/cpp/emacs/fetchmail/gcc/glibc/libstdc/modutils/nscd/openssh/pam/usermode
> > /xinetd
> > 
> > indeed have the kerberos libraries installed in /usr/kerberos and have in
> > desperation created symbolic links in /usr/lib
> > 
> > sensing that this can be one of those opportunities to learn, I would be
> > most grateful for anyone who can add to my meager knowledge base.
> > 
> > Craig
> > 
> > ----:----|----:----|----:----|----:----|----:----|----:----|
> > - Craig White - PO Box 8634 - Scottsdale, Arizona - 85252
> > - e-mail address ................ - CraigWhite@AzApple.com
> > - world wide web address ........ - http://www.AzApple.com
> > - e-mail my pager address ....... - 6023779752@airtouch.net
> > - cellular phone ................ - (602) 377-9752
> > - voice/facsimile ............... - (480) 945-8445
> > ----:----|----:----|----:----|----:----|----:----|----:----|