is fedora really bleeding edge?

[Genes MailLists]

On 03/04/2012 03:34 PM, Stuart McGraw wrote:
> One of the reason for using Fedora is quick access
> to the latest software -- sometimes even too quick
> (hence the "bleeding edge" moniker.)
> 
> But I have noticed this is not true for some things.

 yes and no. imo anyway.

 Leading edge and bleeding edge can be a little different. Leading edge
is latest current versions of existing software - bleeding edge tends to
include new "stuff' which differs significantly from the past - either
completely new things, or non-compatible changes in existing things.

 At Fedora release time, reasonably updated versions of many existing
packages make it in - provided the upstream release is ahead of the
appropriate freeze date. These 'compatible' versions tend to be
reasonably up to date (tho not always) - whether they remain so for the
next 3-4 months is up to the packager - as you have found - some do some
don't - you may need to wait for the next fedora release (once its out)
to get the then 'latest' versions.

  In addition, existing software which has incompatible versions may
make it with sufficient lead time (python 3 for example) - tho you
should anticipate delays of a (fedora) version (or 2) now and again. So
its possible these can be a few months behind. Fedora is pretty
conservative (i.e. careful) in not taking such updates for fear of
breaking things. So these are not too bleeding.

  Lastly - the 'new stuff' - the experimental lab for new ideas - these
tend to get in - sometimes with a delay (e.g systemd was delayed from 14
to 15) sometimes with little delay (e.g. gnome 3 was really pre-release
when it first went in).  This category tends to cause the most pain and
its where fedora tends to bleed. Perhaps its because fedora is one of
the incubators of ideas - or perhaps it's for other reasons. Also, it is
not uncommon here for the 'newest' version not to be brought back to
prior fedora version - so you really need to keep updating to avoid
older stuff here - and if you avoid rawhide - again you may need to wait
3-4 months for the next fedora release to get the updated versions.

  rawhide - certainly in the early phases - is not really a distro as
much as a development build area for the next release - things are put
in without regard to marginal interaction or stability or other than
unit testing (perhaps not even that for some). Majority of fedora users
avoid rawhide for this reason - it can be very unstable at times - tho
not always.

  If you're looking for a pretty stable distro with the latest software
(but not wanting the experimental stuff until those have matured and
been more broadly accepted) you really can't get it with fedora, imho.
If that is your goal you may want to explore some of the rolling
releases - which can be very stable and running latest software. Some
would argue not necessarily as stable as Fedora could be without the
experimental stuff - but could well be more stable than fedora as it
actually is with the experimental stuff when it is included. An
advantage the rolling release guys have - is when they have one of those
incompatible changes - it tends to be the only thing that they focus on
- so its a marginal change.

 So as always - you have a choice to make with tradeoffs - obviously
only you can judge which tradeoffs work best for you.

 gene