[wplug] Upgrades and updates - was: SLES 9.0 questions

[Robert E. Coutch]

Hi all,

Since this is going a bit off topic from the SLES 9.0 discussion, I though a 
new thread would be proper.

The topic of updating a system usually leads to a dicussion of dependancy 
problems and of apt, rpms and such.

So let's get a little philosophical.

If you upgrade a system running some distro (say SuSE 9.0 for example),
by resolving all sorts of dependencies to install some new or updated package 
of some program you can't live without, are you still running SuSE 9.0 ?

It seems SuSE makes updates (for packages) available via YAST but these 
updates are usually bug fixes for the version they packaged with 9.0.

If you go around the updates they provide by upgrading with the latest version 
that requires other packages to be upgraded, you're affecting the way your 
system will handle updates from SuSE.

Sometimes you can upgrade a package because your system meets the minimum 
requirements of the package. I'm sure everyone here has done this a few 
times.

I'm mostly a SuSE, Red Hat, Fedora and Mandrake person so here's what I 
usually do.

I run my system as stock (no upgrades) as possible and just apply the updates 
from said disto suppliers via Yast(YUM) up2date, etc.

When some great new upgrade comes out for a program I just gotta have and my 
system won't support it, I look at upgrading to the latest version of my 
distro that will.

I've been running distros about a year or more before upgrading the whole 
thing. Something like this: Ver 7.1 to ver 8.1 to ver 9.1 skipping the ones 
in between (7.2, 7.3, 8, 8.2, 9) because I'm happy with my setup and 
software.

Are the Gentoo, Debian and BSD folks different?
Do they issue a command and  --POOF--  all their software is upgraded?
Or, do we all say at some point "It's time to move to the next/latest 
version"?


Just wondering,

Bob