Hi all -
Some great discussion here.
We have talked about adding a "dry-run" option to PyBOMBS a couple of times in the past. It sounds like a number of folks think it would be useful, here, too.
With regard to using PyBOMBS on 'antiquated' OSes - one of the original purposes of PyBOMBS, actually, was to make it easier to maintain GNU Radio installations on these old OSes. I believe at its inception PyBOMBS needed to support RHEL4, actually.
How long we should support otherwise obsolete OSes is a conversation worth having. There are enough users that need to build on legacy systems that I think it's an important function to consider.
Cheers,
Ben