Topic: confused... sme 5.6 user, where to go from here?

[krsmes]

I've been using SME 5.6 for a couple years as a simple server (web, email, etc.).  It has been working great, very low maintenance.

I recently decided to upgrade hardware and found that 5.6 wouldn't recognize the network adapter, etc. on the new machine so I thought I'd try 6.0.   It seems that half the features are missing?!  Is 6.0 a downgrade from 5.6?  

And as a casual user, I'm totally confused about 6.5rc1 vs 7.0alpha#

Can someone tell me where I can go from 5.6 and be able to use modern hardware yet keep my feature set?

Thanks.

[stefan24]

Hi!

First of all, I would use SME 6.01 with our update script. (see my sig) 6.0 is still Mitel based, 6.01 has some updates and is already Community based.

If you can wait several months, you could wait for the release of SME 6.5, which has some more updates and new features and seems already stable with the current RC1. Several Contribs has yet to be adapted for this release, though.
SME 7.0 alpha is based on CentOS 3.x and will certainly soon ported to CentOS 4.0 and offers support for new hardware like S-ATA and Gigbait NICs. But I expect a release not before 10-20 months.

What features are you exactly missing in 6.0(1)?
SME 6.01 offers support for standard SCSI and IDE controllers, even for RAID controllers like ICP. A computer with 1,x GHz and 256 - 512 MB should be IMHO sufficient.
And many, many contribs exist for most tasks. I don't know of any feature my SME 5.6 server had, which I don't have with my SME 6.01.

[beakersloco]

I also use 5.6 .... I started using the software in 2001 with  version 4.xx  on a 166mzh system as only a internet gateway(I forget what exact version) then updated to 5.0 (266 mzh processor )then to 5.6  running on 600 celeron 80gig hd 256ram. I stopped updating because when 6.0 came out it did not include the function to  allow me to update my dns information automatically when my ip changes (I need this to be able to access email when at work or not at home) At the time I was leary of doing any console changes back then. Now I have a custom system with several contribs installed over the past year.

Is the dns update still an add on corntrib or has it been included in the new revisions ?

[Skydiver]

Hi I am currently testing SME 6.5 and SME 7.0 Alpha 5... They are both Stable and no major issues noted.
Sata etc... Dual Intel CPU's 100/1000 ethernet all works without issue.

Mysql is still very outdated but when they go to Centos 4 thats changed.

Items that i feel lack in the new releases are Firewall management for both Server only and Gateway modes. The package seems to have some greatly needed updates but all are outdated in most cases.

I feel server platforms should be as up todate as posible in all area's.
Unfortunatly we dont see the latest and greatest in SME untill someone creates a script to update it.

But all in all no reason why you should not use the releases 6.5 or 7.0a5 they work and are stable.

[MSmith]

Just butting in here with respect to your belief, Skydiver, that server packages should be as up to date as possible.

I agree with you, except perhaps on the definition of "as possible."  I'd expand that to "as up to date as possible while maintaining maximum stability and compatibility."  

Especially the stability part ... gotta love those long uptimes!

[CharlieBrady]

Mysql is still very outdated but when they go to Centos 4 thats changed.

Mysql is only used for webmail preferences, and works *perfectly* for that.

Unfortunatly we dont see the latest and greatest in SME untill someone creates a script to update it.

Well, it's not going to update itself, is it?

But all in all no reason why you should not use the releases 6.5 or 7.0a5 they work and are stable.

I can tell you for sure that 7.0a5 has bugs. As will 7.0a6, etc. 7.0 is under active development, and should not be used on production servers.

[Skydiver]

SME should be take into concideration packages users need to support. The server is not just a webmail server it also allows websites and many other features.
 
Users place applications into the ibays for there websites and as new features are supported in base apps like Mysql.
Users like to use them in there website apps.

If Mysql is only supplied to support webmail features and not used for Ibays then why dont we call it SME the webmail server.

I hope you are seeing my point.

[CharlieBrady]

SME should be take into concideration packages users need to support. The server is not just a webmail server it also allows websites and many other features.
 
Users place applications into the ibays for there websites and as new features are supported in base apps like Mysql.

If a user can install new software to run a fancier website, they can upgrade mysql if they need to.

The core distribution can't anticipate the requirements of all possible additional software which might be added to the base.

The core distribution uses as many components as possible from the base distribution on which it is based. That's RedHat 7.3 for 6.x and CentOS 3 for 7.0(alpha). Using any other version entails significant extra work, for zero payback on a standard installation. And potential for headaches at the time of upgrade to a new version. There's already more work than workers.

If you want to make a new core distribution which includes newer versions of basic components, there's nothing stopping you.