Upgrading linux

[ASCI Blue]

Local linux newb here to ask another potentially dumb question. http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/biggrin.gif If I've got RH 5.0 on CD is it possible to upgrade it to the newest version, compiling a kernel or some such? Since I think this is the case would this be an intelligent rought to go?

[ph34r]

Well, yah, you could. But applying all the errata on RH 5.0 to make it "current" and fix various bugs/patches/etc. will take forever, if not impossible. Why not just get a cd of RH 6.2 or Slack or Debian or.... from cheapbytes? If you don't mind downloading 70mb, you can get Peanut, which has all the goodies - X, KDE, etc. and is Slackware based, so adding stuff is easy.

[i8degrees]

Ouch, I would go ahead and just get a newer copy of Linux, it would take a LONG time of compiling everything needed for a major upgrade like that. Glibc, gcc, automake, etc, all would have to be updated, if I am not mistaken. Are you new to Linux? I would pick up Mandrake 7.2 if you are just starting out, it really helps out--then from there explore other distros and it makes it a lot easier.

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Windows for play and Linux for work.

[DrDebian]

Originally posted by ASCI Blue:
I've got RH 5.0 on CD is it possible to upgrade it to the newest version, compiling a kernel or some such?

Forget about using such an old version. You will have all sorts of trouble updating all program packages using .rpm.

Try getting (downloading using FTP) the Debian Bootdisks (6 disks) and install Debian Linux from those disks, downloading only the things you need (everything is there BTW) via FTP. Works like a charm and it's much faster than downloading 3 whole ISO images full of stuff you may never want.