[CentOS] Thanks to every one

[Pete Biggs]

> let's think about what a hpc cluster is for. 
> Second, one should always ask the question where security is to be
> applied,

+1 

You have to assess your environment and weigh up the benefits of uptime
vs security. Sometimes the security that is fixed in a new kernel is
inconsequential in your environment; sometimes the external security on
your network is such that the attack vector is tiny. You make a
judgement based on your needs.

> 
> 
> The physicists and mathematicians who count there need high durations.

Yes. I too run HPC clusters and I have had uptimes of over 1000 days -
clusters that are turned on when they are delivered and turned off when
they are obsolete. It is crucial for long running calculations that you
have a stable OS - you have never seen wrath like a computational
scientist whose 200 day calculation has just failed because you needed
to reboot the node it was running on.
> 
> My decision much on Centos because:
> 
> - free
> - Maintaining until the year 2024, 
>   longer than the cluster will live.
> 
And stability ...

P.