On Oct 13, 2017, at 20:20, Rob Landry <[email protected]> wrote:
> Can CentOS 6 be supported indefinitely?
Only if you choose to do it yourself! When a CentOS version goes out of
support [see
https://wiki.centos.org/FAQ/General#head-fe8a0be91ee3e7dea812e8694491e1dde5b75e6d
<https://wiki.centos.org/FAQ/General#head-fe8a0be91ee3e7dea812e8694491e1dde5b75e6d>
for a table of dates], the images and RPMs for that version are removed from
the distribution mirror network, effectively breaking the installation and
updating of packages via yum(8). Not only does this mean that security updates
are no longer provided, it also makes distribution of Rivendell updates
problematic as it relies on that same mirror network to satisfy dependencies.
Could you go on running your system past that date? Sure, but it’s effectively
‘frozen in time’ software-wise going forward. If you need to stand up a new
installation on that platform (say, the hard disc died on the system), you will
need to do so manually, using the archived files of the last released packages.
If a security vulnerability in the base OS is revealed, you will need to patch
it yourself; no updates will be provided. If you want the latest Rivendell
version, you will need to build it yourself from the sources, since as a matter
of policy Paravel Systems does not build RPMs for out-of-support platforms.
The above is by no means unique to the CentOS ecosystem. *All* major
distributions utilize support windows, following which use of that particular
version of the platform is deprecated and users are strongly encouraged to move
on to the next iteration. In fact, the RedHat/CentOS support windows are *much*
longer (effectively 10 years) than even the so-called ‘Long Term Support’
offerings of other distributions (a major reason why CentOS was selected as the
foundation of choice for Rivendell operation).
Bottom line: platform obsolescence and platform updates are an inherent part of
the software ecosystem as it exists today. You need to take this into account
and plan accordingly when considering long-term deployment and maintenance
strategies.
(And, FWIW, CentOS 6 is my personal favorite as well. _Cie la vie_!)
Cheers!
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Frederick F. Gleason, Jr. | Chief Developer |
| | Paravel Systems |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Hofstadter's Law: |
| It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take |
| Hofstadter's Law into account. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
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