[SATLUG] Upgrade Fedora core 3 to core 6

[Matt Kinsel]

I'm getting ready to install FC6 on a Dell laptop currently running Windowz
ME.  I've got the files I need off of it, and I wish to completely wipe off
the hard drive and install FC6.  Does anyone have any recommended
programs/methods for clearing off the drive (OS too)?  I've never erased a
hard drive before or installed Linux, so any tips/warnings would be much
appreciated.

On 12/2/06, Bob Tracy <rct at gherkin.frus.com> wrote:
>
> Luis Garza wrote:
> > I am spending the night downloading FC6 and backing up some of my
> directories
> > to CD.  I am feeling very hopefull since I went to church today.
> >
> > So I am asking for any lessons learned while upgrading.
>
> Best recommendation I can give is to read the release notes and pay
> particular attention to the *strong* recommendation to do a "from scratch"
> install vs. upgrading.  I'm pretty hard-headed and tend to believe that if
> a distro vendor offers an upgrade option, it should work :-).  For the
> most part, it does.  When the smoke clears, you'll have some semi-serious
> cleanup to do...
>
> (1) Your windowing environment of choice will pretty much be trashed.
>     Fix is to delete all the dot files and directories under your home
>     directory that have anything to do with GNOME and KDE -- let the
>     window manager recreate them.  Desktop customizations will, of
>     course, be lost: you'll need to recreate them.
>
> (2) Many packages that were available in FC3 have no replacements that
>     can be automatically determined by the FC6 upgrade process, i.e.,
>     they are obsolete or have otherwise fallen out of favor.  After
>     the upgrade, run "rpm -q -a --last" and save the output somewhere
>     for reference: this generates a time-ordered list of RPMs on your
>     system where the oldest RPMs will be at the end of the list.
>     Anything with a date older than 2006 should probably be removed.
>     If you need the functionality provided by a package that's a
>     candidate for removal, try to find a modern replacement.  One you'll
>     probably run into quickly is the RPM package that provides alternative
>     desktop themes: if you had the FC3 version loaded, it didn't get
>     upgraded and the old one won't work due to changes in where GNOME
>     expects to find things.
>
> Bottom line: if you're adventurous AND feel comfortable doing things
> from the command line, do the upgrade -- you won't lose any critical
> data, and you'll have quite the learning experience.  On the other hand,
> if you don't crave that kind of excitement in your life, save those
> configuration items and other critical data you can't live without,
> then do a "from scratch" install.  If you elect the "from scratch"
> approach and have the luxury of doing so, put it on a different machine
> and then you won't have to worry about losing *anything*.
>
> --
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Bob Tracy                   WTO + WIPO = DMCA? http://www.anti-dmca.org
> rct at frus.com
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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