[CentOS] Questions about Stream

On 12/17/20 6:26 AM, Andrey wrote:
> 
> OK, we realized that the changes are final, and must somehow deal with
> it. Before making final decisions we need some answers.
> 
> 1. What about bugs and security issues? The FAQ says: "Security issues
> will be updated in CentOS Stream after they are solved in the current
> RHEL release."

Developers will somehow decide there is a security issue to fix .. just
like they do now.

They will fix that specific issue first in the current RHEL (just like
they do now).  Once they release that fix (after QA), they will then
look to add the fixes into CentOS Stream.  From a timing perspective
this is no different than the way current CentOS Linux gets security
updates (once Red Hat 'releases' the fix the source code is released).
This will be the same for any other 'source code rebuild) as well.

> 
> Consider the scenario: a bug or security issue found in both Stream and
> current RHEL. It was fixed in RHEL in a few days. How fast it will be
> fixed in Stream? Obviously, it needs some time to port the fix to newer
> version of package. Days or months?

It 'SHOULD' happen within a very short time (few days) .. because,
Stream builds against itself.  Not building against the latest fixes
breaks OTHER items in Stream,  Therefore, developers will release items
into stream as soon as possible so they can build items against it ..
future RHEL development DEPENDS on it.

> 
> Another scenario: a bug or security issue found in Stream but NOT in
> current RHEL. How fast it will be fixed in Stream? In a few days or in
> next RHEL release (up to 6 months)?

Same answer as above, for the same reason.

> 
> 2. What to do in 2024, when Stream 8 is EOL. Perform full reinstall of
> all servers to Stream 9? Or there will be some kind of major version
> upgrade?
>

I don't know.  I do know that CentOS Linux never had that.  If you
currently move from CentOS Linux 6 to CentOS Linux 7, that is a manual
move.  This really is because the versions are significantly different
and inplace updates usually fail because data also needs to be adjusted.

Different configurations are usually required for many different server
items (httpd, postgresql, mariadb etc.).   There are different version
of PHP and PERL .. so your scripts need to be rewritten, etc.

It is almost always much better as an admin to stand up the new os ..
move a subset of data over and fix it to work .. then moce after that to
fix all the issues.

> A note about hardware: we don't know now what drivers will be dropped
> from RHEL and Stream 9. Bad news for server owners: in 2024 they may be
> forced to upgrade hardware or move to RHEL 8 because of its longer
> lifecycle.
> 
I doubt that will be the case for most items.  We also have a
centos-plus kernel that fixes some things.

CentOS also has Special Interest Groups.  Want the start one that rolls
in the latest Kernel.org kernel and makes it available on stream .. you
(or any other member of the community) can do that and build it on
CentOS infrastructure.  I mean .. SIGs need a group of people and it
helps if someone in that group has some community build experience, but
if there is enough interest and volunteers and they convince the board
the are able to build and will maintain the SIG, it should not be a problem.

There should be at least 2 years of development between versions of
CentOS Stream .. CentOS Stream 8 ends in 2024 .. CentOS Stream 9 will
release sometime in 2021.