RE: Red Hat Network updates

From: Steve Bremer (steveb@nebcoinc.com)
Date: 03/04/03

  • Next message: Eric Greenberg: "Reviewed the rhn code .. RE: Red Hat Network updates" 
    From: "Steve Bremer" <steveb@nebcoinc.com>
To: Aaron Sierra <AaronS@webex.com>
Date: Tue, 04 Mar 2003 12:12:42 -0600

    Hi Aaron,

    > Another interesting thing about RHN updates is that they do not stay
    > in sync with the source. For instance, if you pull PHP from RHN, you
    > will get php-4.2.2-8.0.7. However, php.net is distributing version

    This is actually good (see below). Many Linux distributors do this.

    > 4.3.1. I have yet to understand their logic for releasing updates.
    > Any information about this would be appreciated.

    Typically, Red Hat will back port security patches from the current
    version of XYZ software to the version of XYZ software release with
    their distribution. Why do they do this? If they were to package the
    new version of XYZ software, it may have new bugs in addition to
    the security fix. These new bugs could introduce compatibility
    problems with the existing software on the system.

    So, in short, this is a very good practice in my opinion. From what
    I've seen, there are other Linux distributions (like Debian) that are
    very strict about following this policy of back-porting security fixes.
    Kudos to them. New features provided in the current version of XYZ
    software are usually left for new releases of the Linux distribution.
    (As always, there are generally exceptions.)

    Steve Bremer
    NEBCO, Inc.

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