This message was sent to group leaders and security contacts November 21st, 2007:

Dear Colleagues,

we intend to reduce the level of support for the aging Scientific Linux 3.

To summarize the impact on SL3 users:

There is no need to upgrade SL3 systems to SL5 (or SL4), but
  - some applications may have to be run remotely on SL4/5 systems
  - audio will not be available on any recent PC hardware with SL3
  - recombining existing SL3 PCs and monitors may not be possible

The rationale and details about the proposed measures leading to these
limitations are outlined below. If any of these would cause a serious
problem, please let us know.

We generally recommend upgrading desktops to SL5. This is available and has
been tested for any class of PCs purchased since 2001 ("najade" and newer
systems). Some older PCs are still around on which SL5 could not be tested,
but the hardware limitations above generally don't apply to those.

For more information about the supported Linux flavours, please visit
http://dvinfo.ifh.de/Linux_at_DESY_Zeuthen .

Rationale
=========

It's been almost three years since the first SL3 production systems
were installed at DESY's Zeuthen site. While it will be possible to keep
existing SL3 systems running and secure for almost three more years,
and we intend to take full advantage of this possibility for certain systems
and applications hard to upgrade to a new operating system,
this distribution is aging and no longer appropriate for general use:

- SL3 will not work on future PCs, and this future begins now.

- SL3 is unlikely to work on future server hardware.

- A growing number of desktop like applications will not work at all, or not
work reliably, on SL3 in their latest version. Examples include the firefox
browser, the flash plugin, the thunderbird mailreader, adobe reader 8.
Keeping this kind of software at older releases is not possible for security
reasons, and SL3 desktop users are already experiencing the firefox problems
since the last update.

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 is in "maintenance mode", and only security
issues will be fixed in the future.

- Scientific Linux 3 as provided by FNAL in collaboration with other labs
(among those, DESY), will transition to "legacy mode" in December. See the
copy of the announcement:
   http://dvinfo.ifh.de/Linux_at_DESY_Zeuthen/SL3LegacyAnnouncement
This basically means that some add-on applications (firefox, thunderbird)
not part of RHEL3 will no longer be available.

- With the availability of SL5 (and SL4, although we recommend using SL5 if
possible), it is time to cut back on the amount of resources continuously
required to keep the current level of functionality especially for SL3
desktops and desktop-like applications.

Proposed Measures
=================

- Update of all SL3 systems to release 3.0.9 in December

We intend to do this between Christmas eve and newyear. This is a normal
procedure, as many SL3 systems were initially installed with 3.0.2 and are
now at release 3.0.8, but requires a fair number of update packages to be
installed.

- Removal of Firefox (with the Flash plugin) and Thunderbird from SL3

This will happen with the 3.0.9 update, or with the first security issue
with this software after December 1st if it comes up before.

As a replacement, seamonkey (a descendant of mozilla) will be installed, but
without any customization. In addition, the konqueror browser will continue
to be available. Users can still run these applications remotely on SL4/5
systems. Flash would work with mozilla, but is unstable on SL3.

- Removal of other add-ons cumbersome to maintain from SL3, as required

This affects software like Adobe Reader, RealPlayer, and OpenOffice which
are provided by DV/IT since they are not available with SL3 or the SL
version is very outdated.

We intend to remove these applications as soon as a security update would be
required.

In some cases, replacements are available, like xpdf for Adobe Reader.
In others, users will either have to upgrade their desktop or run the
application remotely.

- No more sound support on SL3, except for very old PCs

Starting with the Dell Precision 360 Generation ("dryade", "satyr", "oreade"
and newer systems), extra drivers had to be provided to make sound work.
This requires a serious amount of synchronous work with every kernel update,
especially because problems with such drivers may prevent PCs from booting.

- No more support for CRTs attached to SL3 PCs, except for old PCs

Starting with the Dell Precision 370 Generation ("satyr", "oreade" and newer
systems), extra video drivers have to be provided to allow driving the
monitor with vertical refresh rates of more than 60 Hz. This requires a
serious amount of synchronous work with every kernel update, especially
because problems with such drivers may prevent PCs from booting.

While 60Hz is perfectly fine for TFTs, it is not acceptable for analogue
displays. Hence the possibilities to combine old monitors with PCs are
reduced. It will not generally be possible to replace working monitors with
TFT displays.


With Best Regards,
        Your Sysadmin Team