Now that Mandrake has announced their product end-of-life policy (http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/productlifetime.php3), I really need a sustainable upgrade strategy. I've always struggled with rpm updates, basically downloadling source rpms and building them myself. Mandrake package dependencies also happen to be particularly 'unkempt,' often includes things that really aren't necessary. My most "important" MDK box, a gateway/firewall, is still basically MDK8.0 (console only).
What do most of you do to keep your machines up to date with necessary features and security updates? Do you pretty much re-pave each time for a newer MDK distro, or do you build your own from sources? Any time-saving hints, like rsync, etc, which would save download time? What are the best practices?
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
