[wplug] Question 2: what can I keep?

[Brian Sammon]

> When I upgrade to a new distribution (including a 2.6 kernel from 2.4) 
> does that mean I dump the whole root directory structure?  Should I keep 
> things like configuration files in /etc?  What about compiled libraries?  
> What about source for libraries?

In general, a safe rule is to only keep stuff that you created or modified 
manually (i.e.  a config file you edited.  Something you compiled/patched 
yourself)
I suspect this will mainly be a few files in /etc and (of course) files in 
/root and /home.
Also, the old config files won't necessarily be usable as drop-in replacements 
on the new system.  You'll have to investigate this on a case-by-case basis 
for each application (or just those you've got specially configured in /etc).
I'd suggest backing up /etc on the old system and putting it somewhere like 
/etc-old on the new system so you can consult it for reference.