[ydl-gen] Upgrade rant, was: Re: over-the-wire upgrading of 4.01 to 4.1

[Jim Hart]

Kai Staats wrote:

> You _can_ in fact upgrade from one version of Linux to another, even with YDL. 

How?

> But when the kernel changes so far that the binaries are no longer 
> compatible, then you must also upgrade binaries, libraries, as well. I know 
> Linux users who have not rebooted their machine for more than 6 years, 
> upgrading, upgrading, upgrading. But sometimes, it is just easier to backup 
> the home dir, rebuild, and reinstall.

Have they done this all manually, that is the libraries and such? I've 
upgraded through several versions of OS X and from Windows ME to Windows 
XP. The upgrade process took care of all the libraries and such that the 
OS needed. Sure, an occasional application wasn't compatible with the 
new version of the OS, so I had to upgrade the app, but I would have had 
to do that, anyway. In none of these upgrades, did I have to restore a 
single document, nor a single application, nor any preferences, 
mailboxes, etc. And, I would imagine there were kernel upgrades 
involved. Certainly there would be between Windows ME and XP. So, that's 
what I'm ranting about. If some of the Linux distributions can do clean 
upgrades like that, someone please let me know. Especially PPC versions. 
If YDL can do it and I didn't realize it, I apologize for speaking from 
lack of knowledge.
> 
> Ever tried backing up your home dir on OSX, rebuilding, and reinstalling? I 
> have yet to have it work properly. Permissions are messed up, app preferences 
> are all over the place and usually lost --it's a pain.
> 

I hear you, Kai. But I was referring to upgrades, not reinstalls. John 
Welch addressed the latter to a certain extent.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and input. I hope this discussion 
proves useful, not antagonistic.

Best,
Jim Hart
ydl.net member and YDL user since 2002.