As a bunch of dirty finger engineers we have a serious problem with the
the path that Linux has taken.

Be forwarned that when you migrate to 7 and later the 32 libs are gone
and most applications will not work or install.

SL 6.9 is also missing a lot of the 32 bit libs and the graphics do not
work.

This is crude but effective.
We have a SL 6.5 server that has been updated to SL 6.9 but still had
the 32 bit libs we needed.
We just crated a bastard version of 7.6 with 32 bit libs.  We did it by
the brail method.  When the appication complained about a missing lib we
added it.   The list was initially long but on closer inspection a lot
of the error messages are redundant.  After a few hours of work our
engineering applications installed and worked.  This is a blind alley,
but it gave us a few years to get a real solution to the problem.

Reading between the lines - IBM & RedHat want the users who use
independent installations to just go away.  They wont say it but actions
are pretty hard to gloss over.  All you have to do is use Gnome for a
while and your finger falls off due to terrible number of clicks to do
something simple.

We tried Alma, and Rock and they contain the fatel install flwas IBM
invented with 7. and up.   Alma is just the same as RH 8.x complete with
flaws and booby traps.  I pointed this out to the Alma people and thy
shot the messenger.

Never trust the install process in the "custom" world because it is
hopelessly broken, it will erase any disk attached even if you tell it
not to format it.  Can you imagine a 40 Tera byte server - errased and
the rebuild from back up.

BEFORE you attempt to upgrade you system - YOU BETTER HAVE A BULLET
PROOF BACKUP that is NOT Connected !!!!.  - No BS.

The Debian drivatives have a similar problem.  If you remove an
application for a second time.  The C++ toss is never caught and remains
active.  The next removal it erases all disks attached.  How about that
for code testing - it compiles without errors - ship it.  Damm glad
these people never build bridges or control for Aircraft - opps the 737
max 8 is a victum of the sw people don't know how an airplane flys.

The sad part is no one up stream gives a "  " .  

Summary:  We just updated a number of workstaitions to SL 6.5 and then
to 6.9 so we can get our work done.  We are evaluating other options,
and just loaded a box with BSD to test.

Regards
Larry Linder
  
On Tue, 2021-06-29 at 06:43 +0000, Nick Matchett wrote:
> I hope that someone could help me identify an individual or business
> that would be able to help me with the following problem.
> 
>  
> 
> My business has some software that we acquired the responsibility to
> maintain and support, and currently sits on Scientific Linux version
> 6.3.  Unfortunately, we are at a stage where our customers are asking
> to bring the software onto a more current version of a Linux platform.
> 
>  
> 
> We would like to migrate to Red Hat or CentOS version 7.9  (or perhaps
> version 8)
> 
>  
> 
> We have been working on a migration from Scientific Linux 6.3 to
> Redhat 7.9. 
> 
> Unfortunately, we have limited Linux OS skills in our business, and we
> have approached this with a fresh RH 7.9 install and then applying the
> RPM of our software.  There is a big mismatch between Scientific Linux
> 6.3 to Redhat 7.9 in terms of libraries, file structure and type of
> libraries between the software and we have not been able to reconcile
> those.
> 
>  
> 
> I would appreciate any suggestion or advice on the best upgrade path
> to achieve this update  and would be happy to take recommendations on
> individuals or companies who might be interested in a professional
> service engagement to help solve the problem.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks in advance
> 
>