Last week I tried to upgrade a battered old Debian server running linux 2.6.3 to a sparkling new machine running Ubuntu Karmic 64-bit AMD server. The old Debian server was working perfectly, but had basically run out of disk space. After 12 hours, I had to concede defeat, and rolled back to the Debian machine. The issue is documented here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/samba/+bug/521085 Yes, believe it or not, environments running linux servers with Win XP clients like to be able to use their XP desktops even after the server has been upgraded. This bug is a deal killer in this context. The truly irritating thing about this bug is that it is identical to the one marked as "Fixed" here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/jaunty/+source/samba/+bug/397699 Some other issues (an unpatched kernel oops which affects Hardy/Intrepid/Karmic but which is marked as Fixed in Lucid) has my colleagues muttering things like "This is why people use CentOS for servers -- it's stable!" So, this is my thought: maybe there should be a published checklist of specific core services (the kernel, LDAP, NFS, filesystems X-Y-Z, MySQL, Apache, Samba, Dovecot, Postfix) which are thoroughly tested *in* *specific* *contexts* before an Ubuntu server distro is released? Back in the pre-2.6 days people would publish lists of hardware components known to work with particular linux kernels. The idea is similar to this: Publish a checklist of specific functionality: LDAP authentication in Samba SMTP TLS authentication using Dovecot SASL Saving/Reading 1TB files on Ext4 etc. which has been tested by someone before the server distro is released. Is this realistic? Motivated users like myself could sign up to agree to test certain things, distributing what obviously is a rather prodigious task. The published list would include configuration details helpful to someone trying to get some particular function working on a server. Most of the time it only takes one or two occasions of serious wheel spinning (like I experienced last week) before someone throws up their hands and starts looking for an alternative solution. -- Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list Ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-discuss
