CentOS - Feb 2018 - a few simple questions about upgrading an "official" centos 7 release

On Thu, 22 Feb 2018, Pete Biggs wrote:
>
> >
> >   finally, any concerns i should have about upgrading the kernel from
> > 3.10 to 4.14 or 4.15, as explained in a number of places like this:
> >
> > https://www.tecmint.com/install-upgrade-kernel-version-in-centos-7/
> >
> >   i simply prefer to run a current kernel but i can resist the
> > temptation if upgrading that on a centos 7.4 system would introduce
> > more problems than are worth it.
> >
> The only reason to use a kernel version that isn't provided with the
> distro is if the newer kernel provides features that you **NEED**.
>
> Remember, the whole point of something like CentOS is to provide a
> stable, solid OS. This requires a whole bunch of testing of the OS
> as a whole - and RHEL (and hence CentOS) does all that testing using
> kernels it provides. What's more RH will backport critical kernel
> updates if appropriate - so it's not the case that an older kernel
> is lacking in security.
>
> I seem to remember you said you were going to teach using these
> machines - surely you want those machines to be as stable and as
> standard as possible to the machines the students will find in the
> wild. I would definitely not encourage students to upgrade kernels -
> novices sysadmins don't need an extra level of uncertainty in their
> life!
  oh, i appreciate the need for caution; on the other hand, it always
struck me that the training room is the *ideal* place for students to
experiment with things they're too nervous or unsure of to try back at
the office. this is typically why, when i'm teaching, i save friday
afternoon for trying things that are typically not covered by standard
courseware.

  so as long as one delivers the proper caution, i see no problem with
something like, "ok, you might never have to do this at your site, but
just in case you ever need to upgrade your kernel, let's try it and
see what happens." so if the need ever arises, at least they can say
they've done it once and know what the end result is supposed to be.

rday

Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> On Thu, 22 Feb 2018, Pete Biggs wrote:
> 
>>
>>>
>>>    finally, any concerns i should have about upgrading the kernel
from
>>> 3.10 to 4.14 or 4.15, as explained in a number of places like this:
>>>
>>> https://www.tecmint.com/install-upgrade-kernel-version-in-centos-7/
>>>
>>>    i simply prefer to run a current kernel but i can resist the
>>> temptation if upgrading that on a centos 7.4 system would introduce
>>> more problems than are worth it.
>>>
>> The only reason to use a kernel version that isn't provided with
the
>> distro is if the newer kernel provides features that you **NEED**.
>>
>> Remember, the whole point of something like CentOS is to provide a
>> stable, solid OS. This requires a whole bunch of testing of the OS
>> as a whole - and RHEL (and hence CentOS) does all that testing using
>> kernels it provides. What's more RH will backport critical kernel
>> updates if appropriate - so it's not the case that an older kernel
>> is lacking in security.
>>
>> I seem to remember you said you were going to teach using these
>> machines - surely you want those machines to be as stable and as
>> standard as possible to the machines the students will find in the
>> wild. I would definitely not encourage students to upgrade kernels -
>> novices sysadmins don't need an extra level of uncertainty in their
>> life!
> 
>    oh, i appreciate the need for caution; on the other hand, it always
> struck me that the training room is the *ideal* place for students to
> experiment with things they're too nervous or unsure of to try back at
> the office. this is typically why, when i'm teaching, i save friday
> afternoon for trying things that are typically not covered by standard
> courseware.
> 
>    so as long as one delivers the proper caution, i see no problem with
> something like, "ok, you might never have to do this at your site, but
> just in case you ever need to upgrade your kernel, let's try it and
> see what happens." so if the need ever arises, at least they can say
> they've done it once and know what the end result is supposed to be.
The students you need to teach things like this are the ones that will
never become good admins.

On Thu, 22 Feb 2018, hw wrote:
> Robert P. J. Day wrote:
  ... snip ...
> >    oh, i appreciate the need for caution; on the other hand, it
> > always struck me that the training room is the *ideal* place for
> > students to experiment with things they're too nervous or unsure
> > of to try back at the office. this is typically why, when i'm
> > teaching, i save friday afternoon for trying things that are
> > typically not covered by standard courseware.
> >
> >    so as long as one delivers the proper caution, i see no problem
> > with something like, "ok, you might never have to do this at your
> > site, but just in case you ever need to upgrade your kernel, let's
> > try it and see what happens." so if the need ever arises, at
least
> > they can say they've done it once and know what the end result is
> > supposed to be.
>
> The students you need to teach things like this are the ones that
> will never become good admins.
  uh, that's kind of a condescending attitude to take towards students
who simply want to learn. are you this way with everyone?

rday