LiveCode Server on CentOS 6?

[Warren Samples]

On 07/29/2018 07:56 PM, Richard Gaskin via use-livecode wrote:
> 
> First question (an admittedly ignorant one, but I haven't spent much 
> time in the CentOS community):  Why does their package manager not 
> automatically keep system components current?
> 
> Second question: If the first question cannot be resolved easily, what 
> is the advantage of CentOS for this project over Ubuntu or Debian?



Richard,

The explanation that addresses your first question can be expressed in a 
very long-winded manner but also boiled down to this: It's RHEL's 
approach to enforcing stability. They and their clients are interested 
in a system that gives them no bad surprises. This takes into account 
the fact that many of those clients are using complicated proprietary 
software for critical tasks; commercial software and/or software 
developed in-house, which is expected to be fail-proof. There's is an 
obviously ultra-conservative approach, but you can't deny they've been 
successful at what they do :D CentOS naturally inherits the result of 
this philosophy.

The perception of extreme stability, along with the fact that it's one 
of only a very few OSs supported by cPanel, make CentOS very popular 
among hosting companies. All versions of RHEL and CentOS are supported 
for ten years which by design is to eliminate a disruption of services 
caused by forced upgrades. This sometimes leads to hosting companies 
running a version or two behind the latest, which can result in the 
problem Keith is encountering.

Keith has admitted he doesn't have a lot of knowledge and skills in 
Linux, so a managed VPS is a great solution for him. (I feel pretty much 
in that same boat. There are probably a lot of people trying to manage 
their own VPS who shouldn't be! Being well versed on maintaining a Linux 
desktop does not begin to address the skills and knowledge a server 
admin needs.) So, he's a little bit at the mercy of his hosting company. 
Of course the market is open and it's relatively easy to switch hosts. 
There are several distros that would qualify as reliable enough for 
server usage including a few that aren't as widely available as the more 
popular ones. Debian and Ubuntu are totally valid along with CentOS and 
those are probably the most widely available in hosting packages.

Warren