[Redman]

Often this topic gets questions about support for older versions of Red Hat Linux (now an obsolete Linux product from Red Hat) or Fedora. Since the answer is always (almost) the same, here you can find the most important information.

Red Hat versus Fedora
In the early days, Red Hat produced two kind of Linux versions: Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Linux. RHEL was (and still is) a commercial product which still exists (RHEL5 being the latest one). RHL doesn't exists anymore, it is followed by Fedora Core.

RHEL is commercial software and can only be updated if you buy support from Red Hat.

Fedora is partly sponsored by Red Hat and partly community driven. They intent to include the latest and newest bits and pieces. Therefor, it is called "bleeding edge" technology. Drawback might be that certain things can work differently (or don't work at all) after the next update. Fedora technology might (!) find its way into the next version of RHEL.

Support for any version of Red Hat Linux
By using "old" Red Hat Linux versions, you use old(er) software which lack support for new technology (such as SATA). Please think about this. Since such a OS isn't supported anymore, you won't get any (security) updates. Of course there are ways to tweak old RHL (or perhaps Fedora Core) versions into accepting new things, but you might want to skip lots of work and go for a newer version. If you want to stay close to RHL, there are two options: Fedora or CentOS.

Alternatives to Red Hat Linux
Two most used alternatives (close to) are Fedora and CentOS.

Fedora Core has a release cycle which is approx. 2 releases a year. That means that after approx. 1 year after release, support is ended. At the moment FC6 is current, FC4 (or older) isn't supported anymore.

CentOS is a distribution which aims to be 100% RHEL (except for logo's, etc.). It is build with the source files (which can be downloaded for free). Just like RHEL, support is 5 years after the release.
Drawback might be that since the main focus is stability, so not every package included might be the latest and greatest. But it is stable.

Updates for RHEL
People who are using a RHEL version WITHOUT a valid Red Hat subscription can't update it. Period. There is no workaround. Using RHEL only makes sense with a subscription, otherwise consider using CentOS.

Build a RHEL/CentOS dvd
Another frequently asked question is how to create a DVD from the cd iso's. This can be easily done with the mkdvdiso.sh script, see attachement.