[CentOS] Getting ready for CentOS 5.4

[Michael A. Peters]

mbneto wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Since the release of CentOS 5.3 is imminent(?) I'd like to ask a 
> question regarding why did it took so long to be released and, more 
> important, suggest some actions in order to reduce this time if I can 
> assume what caused this delay.

Late?
I just finished cleaning up my file systems in anticipation that it was 
probably about ready. Looked at the forum, and saw that it should be 
here any time now.

So it's not late to me :p

> 
> First I'd like to make sure I am not complaining about this delay 
> between the RHEL and CentOS releases per se.  I did not help in any way 
> to make it happen faster and usually I don't mind having a three weeks 
> gap between them.   But I've noticed that we had two security related 
> kernel updates from RHEL since the RHEL 5.3 release and there is no word 
> on when it will be released or why is it taking so long.

You can buy RHEL you know.
You can also get RHEL src.rpm for packages with critical security that 
impact you and rebuild them.

Most security related updates are not exploitable, as in no known 
exploit exists. Were there a serious exploit, you undoubtedly would see 
a patch - last time there was a serious vulnerability (local kernel 
exploit) there were CentOS users who had patches that could be applied 
to CentOS src.rpm before RHEL had an official fix.

If there is a serious security issue, you can get help.

> 
> I can only assume that this delay is caused by lack of the necessary 
> human resources.
> 
> So, if this is really the case I'd suggest making some sort of campaign 
> to raise money and provide the necessary resources in order to speed 
> things up.  If RH maintains the 4-6 month schedule it can happen again 
> in less than three months.

Wow, I really must be out of the loop. New versions of RHEL every 4-6 
months?

Damn. I left Fedora because their release schedule was too frequent ...