The question of rolling release?

[Przemek Klosowski]

On 01/24/2012 06:23 AM, mike cloaked wrote:
> Having looked at the way releasing packages and versions in linux has
> been moving in a number of distributions it is interesting that there
> are several that now have a rolling-release model.

I have some systems that were upgraded across multiple Fedora releases, 
some strictly incrementally and some by skipping intermediate releases, 
so I am attracted to the concept of a rolling release. Among other 
things, it would solve the problem of officially unsupported releases, 
thus making it easier to deploy Fedora in regulated environments (PCI, 
FISMA, etc). I was always able to make extended Fedora upgrades work, 
but I encountered some tricky problems that make me wonder if a rolling 
update can be made smooth and reliable.

To me, the best of both worlds would be an upgrade path to a 
long-term-supported configuration like RHEL or Centos. This way, users 
could track Fedora developments if they wish, but also retire systems 
into a long-term-supported configuration, after the Fedora update 
support ends. It would be a reasonable compromise between the relatively 
short Fedora support cycle and the stagnation of the stable systems; a 
'rolling into a rut' rather than 'rolling forever' release.

Here's what I think is the problem with rolling releases: they imply 
preserving a running configuration. At the same time, the relevant 
subsystems change, and the migration of the old configuration to the new 
environment can go in each one of those three ways:

  - everything works perfectly in the updated subsystem

  - configuration can be ported and made to work, but is suboptimal

  - old stuff doesn't work, new setup is required

I think that the second case is not uncommon, especially in heavily 
customized systems, such as servers. A rolling release looks attractive 
and simple, but an accumulation of such suboptimal steps could result 
instead in crufty, fragile, and hard to support systems.

In other words, an occasional reinstall from scratch may be the price 
for the full benefits of Fedora's intensive development.


As a separate issue affecting developers rather than users, the current 
Fedora release workflow has the natural rhythm that the rolling release 
might lack.