New Features in Fedora 12 - IV

Creating your own spinsThe same tools that the Fedora Project uses to build packages and create live CDs and installation CDs are themselves distributed with Fedora. That means that anyone can use those tools to create their own installation package sets, and then turn those package sets into their own repositories. Using those repositories, you could then create your own CD or DVD images to later install or run live.The Pungi project (http://fedorahosted.org/pungi) was created for Fedora to build the Fedora system itself. The pungi package contains the pungi command and related configuration files. You can use the pungi command to fashion your own installation trees that result in installable ISO images.The Fedora Live CD project (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FedoraLiveCD) has produced tools...

New Features in Fedora 12 - III

Getting custom Fedora spinsFedora used to be released as a set of CDs or a DVD containing all the Fedora packages that could be installed from those media. The results of new tools first added in Fedora 7 for creating custom software repositories (Pungi) and custom live CDs (livecd-creator) have continued to improve in the form of a growing set of custom spins.A custom spin of Fedora is a CD, DVD, or USB flash drive image that can be run as a live CD and/or Fedora installer. Official Fedora spins include:� Fedora DVD � Contains nearly 4GB with a cross-section of desktop, server, and software development software packages that you can install to hard disk. The contents of this disk are similar to what used to be in Fedora Core.� Fedora CD Set � This six-CD set contains everything from the Fedora...

New Features in Fedora 12 - II

PackageKit Software Management improvementsStarting in Fedora 9, PackageKit became the default GUI package for managing software updates and adding software packages. It is a community-developed software management system that has replaced the Red Hat�developed Package Updater and Package Manager applications.With PackageKit, an icon in the top panel alerts you when software updates are available. Or you can use the PackageKit Package Manager for GNOME to search for and install additional packages.NOTE: One of the more controversial new features of PackageKit in the latest release of Fedora involves allowing a regular user to install signed packages with PackageKit without entering the root password. After Fedora 12 was released, that feature was reversed. So, once you get the first round...

New Features in Fedora 12 - I

When it comes to versions of different software projects that come with Fedora, the major components in Fedora 12 include (with version numbers):� Linux kernel: version 2.6.31� GNOME (desktop environment): version 2.28.0� KDE (desktop environment): version 4.3.3� X Window System (X.org graphical windowing system): version 11, Release 1.7.1� OpenOffice.org (office suite): version 3.1.1� GIMP (image manipulation application): version 2.6.7� GCC (GNU C language compilation system): version 4.4.2� Apache (Web server): version 2.2.13� Samba (Windows SMB file/print sharing): version 3.4.2� CUPS (print services): version 1.4.2� Sendmail (Mail Transport Agent): version 8.14.3� vsFTPd (secure FTP server): version 2.2.0� INN (Usenet news server): version 2.5.0� MySQL (database server): version 5.1.39�...

Moving Toward Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

Red Hat has not yet officially announced the features in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, which is expected to be released some time in 2010. However, since the previous major release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, several critical features have been replaced with new software projects in Fedora. So, even though there is no official feature list yet, learning at least some of the following current Fedora features should help you gear up for RHEL 6:� Package Management � Expect tools such as pup (Package Updater) and pirut (Package Manager) to be replaced with PackageKit. The PackageKit facility includes features for installing and updating packages. New panel icons let you watch activities of PackageKit as it manages and installs software.� Network Interfaces � Although NetworkManager was available...

Why Choose Fedora?

To distinguish itself from other versions of Linux, each distribution adds some extra features. Because many power features included in most Linux distributions come from established open source projects (such as Apache, Samba, KDE, and so on), often enhancements for a particular distribution exist to make it easier to install, configure, and use Linux. Also, because there are different software packages available to do the same jobs (such as window managers or a particular server type), a distribution can distinguish itself by which packages it chooses to include and feature with its default installations.Fedora is continuing the Red Hat Linux tradition by offering many features that set it apart from other Linux distributions. Those features include:� Cutting-edge Linux technology � In Fedora...

Choosing between Fedora and Enterprise

If you bought this book to try out Linux for the first time, rest assured that what you have on the DVD and CDs with this book is a solid, battle-tested operating system. There is still a lot of overlap between Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. However, many of the newest features of Fedora 12 provide a way to test out much of the software that is slated to go in later editions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.Although Fedora may not be right for everyone, Fedora is great for students, home users, most small businesses, and anyone just wanting to try out the latest Linux technology. Larger businesses should seriously consider the implications on support, training, and future upgrade paths before choosing whether to go the Fedora route or sign on with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Also, businesses...

Red Hat shifts to Red Hat Enterprise Linux

The major shift of attention to Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the focus of Red Hat, Inc.�s commercial efforts has been on the horizon for some time. Some characteristics of Red Hat Enterprise Linux are:� Longer release intervals � Instead of offering releases every 6 months or so, Enterprise software has closer to an 18-month to two-year update cycle. Customers can be assured of a longer support cycle without having to upgrade to a later release.� Multiple support options � Customers will have the choice of purchasing different levels of support. All subscriptions will include the Update Module, which allows easy access to updates for Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems. The Management Module lets customers develop custom channels and automate management of multiple systems. TheMonitoring Module...

What Is Fedora?

Having directories of source code floating extraneously around the Internet was not a bad way for hackers to share software. However, for Linux to be acceptable to a less technical population of computer users, it needed to be simple to install and use. Likewise, businesses that were thinking about committing their mission-critical applications to a computer system would want to know that this system had been carefully tested and well supported.To those ends, several companies and organizations began gathering and packaging Linux software together into usable forms called distributions. The main goal of a Linux distribution is to make the hundreds (or even thousands) of unrelated software packages that make up Linux work together as a cohesive whole. Popular Linux distributions include Debian,...

Primary Advantages of Linux

When compared to various commercially available operating systems, Linux�s best assets are its price, its reliability, and the freedom it gives you. With the latest 2.6 Linux kernel, you can also argue that scalability is one of its greatest assets. Today, Linux is used in the New York Stock Exchange, banks, highly secure U. S. government installations, and many other institutions for which uptime, security, and performance are critical. It�s also used in hand-held devices, netbooks, and commercial TV video recorders.Most people know that its initial price is free (or at least under $50 when it comes in a box or with a book). However, when people talk about Linux�s affordability, they are usually thinking of its total cost, which includes no (or low) licensing fees, the ability to reuse any...

Common Linux Features

No matter what distribution of Linux you use, the piece of code common to all is the Linux kernel. Although the kernel can be modified to include support for the features you want, every Linux kernel can offer the following features:� Multiuser � Not only can you have many user accounts available on a Linux system, you can also have multiple users logged in and working on the system at the same time. Users can have their own environments arranged the way they want: their own home directory for storing files and their own desktop interface (with icons, menus, and applications arranged to suit them). User accounts can be password-protected, so that users can control who has access to their applications and data.� Multitasking � In Linux, it is possible to have many programs running at the same...

Linux�s Roots in UNIX

Linux grew within a culture of free exchange of ideas and software. Like UNIX � the operating system on which Linux is based � the focus was on keeping communications open among software developers. Getting the code to work was the goal and the Internet was the primary communications medium. Keeping the software free and redistributable was a means to that goal. What, then, were the conditions that made the world ripe for a computer system such as Linux?In the 1980s and 1990s, while Microsoft flooded the world with personal computers running DOS (Disk Operating System) and Windows operating systems, power users demanded more from an operating system. They ached for systems that could run on networks, support many users at once (multiuser), and run many programs at once (multitasking). DOS...

Ten cool things to do with Fedora 12 Linux

Just because Fedora is a serious operating system doesn't mean it can�t be fun too. Here is a list of ten fun and useful things to do with Fedora.1. Customize your desktop � Not only does Linux support multiple desktop environments including GNOME, KDE, Xfce, and Moblin, but you can customize the look and feel of each desktop environment. 2. Launch Fedora 12 live on your PC � Insert the live CD that, reboot, and start using Fedora from nearly any PC. Fedora won�t touch the contents of your computer unless you tell it to. If you like Fedora, select the Install button to install Fedora to your hard disk.3. Run thousands of applications � From the official Fedora repository or a boatload of other repositories, you can choose from thousands of free applications, including hundreds of games, with...

Intelligent Memory

Researchers at Berkeley have suggested that rather than bolting some amount of SRAM, organized as a cache, around a processor, one should add a processor core to a DRAM. They called this approach IRAM, for Intelligent RAM. Since processor and memory coexist on the same chip, extremely high bandwidth connections between them are possible and cheap. When the memory happens to be large enough to contain a complete application and its data, one can then imagine adding serial or narrow interfaces such as HyperTransport, RapidIO or Gigabit Ethernet, and thus avoid expensive, silicon-unfriendly parallel external interfaces. In such a situation, an IRAM chip would have interfaces only for power and network interconnect. A specialized version of the concept, a vector-processing. We summarize the pros...

Facebook - Building an Internal Community

Facebook provides the opportunity for you to use Groups to form private communities. This is great for companies that may have distributed workers or a growing workforce and wants to have a common area for its team to hang out and engage with one another. Large corporations tend to have private enterprise level communities built for them using a professional community platform. But companies that don�t need a lot of features, or may not have budget for an expensive platform, can turn to Facebook to fill that communications void.Many corporations have realized that their employees are all on Facebook and already spend a lot of time interacting on the platform. So, instead of forcing them to log in to yet another website, they decide to use Facebook as an internal communications platform for...

Facebook - Building a Community for Your Company, Product, or Service

Due to the growing size of Facebook,more and more of your prospects and customers are on Facebook; therefore, you should not ignore Facebook as a viable way to form a community. Even if you have created an enterprise-level, private community, you should still ensure that your brand is properly represented on Facebook. You can use Facebook to create a Page or Group around your company, product, or service. This serves as your main presence on Facebook and as another outpost from which you can communicate and connect with your prospects, customers, or fans.Developing an active community around your company, product, or service on Facebook can be beneficial, especially if you are successful at encouraging conversations. How can this engagement be so successful on Facebook? To start, every time...

Using Facebook to Develop Communities

At a basic level, Facebook represents one large community. Within that large community a limitless number of subcommunities form. People form communities around their interests, hobbies, events, companies, products, services, celebrities, schools, or even favorite foods. We form and use these communities in the same manner that we would in the physical world. We engage with one another, form bonds, share interesting articles, upload photos and videos, and invite others with similar interests to join our communities.Although forums are still a popular way for these communities to form, they have graduated into more developed community platforms. Some communities choose to build premium communities.Although these enterprise level premium communities offer expanded features and more customization,...

Choosing Your Ubuntu Version

The developers behind Ubuntu have worked to make the software as easy and flexible to install as possible. They understand that people will be installing Ubuntu on computers with varying purposes (desktops, servers, laptops, and so on) and using different types of computers (PCs and Macs, 32-bit and 64-bit computers, and so on). To cater to as many people as possible, there are two Ubuntu CDs that can be used. � Desktop: The desktop CD is the one recommended for desktops and laptops. With this CD, you can boot Ubuntu from the CD and, if you like it, you have the option to install it to your hard drive. Note that running from the disk without installing directly to the hard drive is the default option to help prevent accidental data loss.� Alternate install: The alternate install CD is recommended...

The Ubuntu Foundation

Finally, in addition to Canonical and the full Ubuntu community, the Ubuntu project is supported by the Ubuntu Foundation, which was announced by Shuttleworth with an initial funding commitment of $10 million. The foundation, like Canonical, is based on the Isle of Man. The organization is advised by the Ubuntu Community Council.Unlike Canonical, the Foundation does not play an active role in the day to- day life of Ubuntu. At the moment, the Foundation is little more than a pile of money that exists to endow and ensure Ubuntu�s future. Because Canonical is a young company, some companies and individuals found it difficult early on to trust that Canonical would be able to provide support for Ubuntu for the time frames (e.g., three to five years) that it claims it can. The Ubuntu Foundation...

Bazaar and Launchpad

In addition to support and development on Ubuntu, Canonical, Ltd. funds the development of Bazaar, a distributed version control tool, and the Launchpad project. Bazaar is a tool for developing software that is used heavily in Ubuntu and plays an important role in the technical processes through which Ubuntu is forged. However, the software, which is similar in functionality to other version control systems such as CVS, Subversion, or BitKeeper, is useful in a variety of other projects as well. More important,Bazaar acts as the workhorse behind Launchpad.More than half of Canonical�s technical employees work on the Launchpad project. Launchpad is an ambitious Web-based superstructure application that consists of several highly integrated tools. The software plays a central role in Ubuntu development...

Canonical�s Service and Support

While it is surprising to many users, fewer than half of Canonical�s employees work on the Ubuntu project. The rest of the employees fall into several categories: business development, support and administration, and development of other projects such as Bazaar and Launchpad.Individuals involved in business development help create strategic deals and certification programs with other companies�primarily around Ubuntu. In large part, these are things that the community is either ill suited for or uninterested in as a whole. One example of business development work is the process of working with companies to ensure that their software (usually proprietary) is built and certified to run on Ubuntu. For example, Canonical worked with IBM to ensure that its popular DB2 database would run on Ubuntu...

Canonical, Ltd.

Canonical, Ltd. is a company founded by Mark Shuttleworth with the primary goal of developing and supporting the Ubuntu distribution. Many of the core developers on Ubuntu�although no longer a majority of them�work full time or part time under contract for Canonical, Ltd. This funding by Canonical allows Ubuntu to make the type of support commitments that it does. Ubuntu can claim that it will release in six months because releasing, in one form or another, is something that the paid workers at Canonical can ensure. As an all-volunteer organization, Debian suffered from an inability to set and meet deadlines� volunteers become busy or have other deadlines in their paying jobs that take precedence. By offering paying jobs to a subset of developers, Canonical can set support and release deadlines...

Ubuntu Bug #1

Of course, Ubuntu�s goals are not only to build an OS that lives up to our philosophy or technical goals and to do it on our terms�although we probably would be happy if we achieved only that. Our ultimate goal, the one that supersedes and influences all others, is to spread our great software, our frequent releases, and the freedoms enshrined in our philosophy to as many computer users in as many countries as possible. Ubuntu�s ultimate goal is not to become the most used GNU/Linux distribution in the world; it is to become the most widely used OS in the world.The first bug recorded for Ubuntu illustrates this fact. The bug, filed by Shuttleworth and marked as severity critical, remains open today and can be viewed online at https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+bug/1. The text of the bug...

Ubuntu Technical Goals

While a respectful community and adherence to a set of philosophical goals provide an important frame in which the Ubuntu project works, Ubuntu is, at the end of the day, a technical project. As a result, it only makes sense that in addition to philosophical goals and a project constitution, Ubuntu also has a set of technical goals.The first technical goal of the project, and perhaps the most important one, is the coordination of regular and predictable releases. In April 2004, at the Warthogs meeting, the project set a goal for its initial proof-of-concept release six months out. In part due to the resounding success of that project, and in larger part due to the GNOME release schedule, the team has stuck to a regular and predictable six-month release cycle and has only once chosen to extend...

Ubuntu Conduct Goals and Code of Conduct

If Ubuntu�s philosophical commitments describe the why of the Ubuntu project, the Code of Conduct (CoC) describes Ubuntu�s how. Ubuntu�s CoC is, arguably, the most important document in the day-to-day operation of the Ubuntu community and sets the ground rules for work and cooperation within the project. Explicit agreement to the document is the only criterion for becoming an officially recognized Ubuntu activist�an Ubuntero�and is an essential step toward membership in the project. The CoC covers �behavior as a member of the Ubuntu Community, in any forum, mailing list, wiki, Web site, IRC channel, install-fest, public meeting, or private correspondence.� The CoC goes into some degree of depth on a series of points that fall under the following headings.� Be considerate.� Be respectful.�...

Ubuntu Philosophical Goals

The most important goals of the Ubuntu project are philosophical in nature. The Ubuntu project lays out its philosophy in a series of documents on its Web site. In the most central of these documents, the team summarizes the charter and the major philosophical goals and underpinnings.� Our philosophyOur work is driven by a philosophy of software freedom that aims to spread and bring the benefits of software to all parts of the world. At the core of the Ubuntu Philosophy are these core ideals:1. Every computer user should have the freedom to download, run, copy, distribute, study, share, change and improve their software for any purpose, without paying licensing fees.2. Every computer user should be able to use their software in the language of their choice.3. Every computer user should be...

The Ubuntu Community

By now you may have noticed a theme that permeates the Ubuntu project on several levels. The history of free software and open source is one of a profoundly effective community. Similarly, in building a GNU/Linux distribution, the Ubuntu community has tried to focus on an ecosystem model�an organization of organizations�in other words, a community. Even the definition of ubuntu is one that revolves around people interacting in a community.It comes as no surprise then that an �internal� community plays heavily into the way that the Ubuntu distribution is created. While the Ubuntu 4.10 version (Warty Warthog) was primarily built by a small number of people, Ubuntu achieved widespread success only through contributions by a much larger group that included programmers, documentation writers, volunteer...

The Debian Project and the Free Software Universe

Debian is a distribution backed by a volunteer project of over 1,000 official members and many more volunteers and contributors. It has expanded to encompass around 23,000 packages of free and open source applications and documentation. Debian�s history and structure make it very good at certain things. For example, Debian has a well-deserved reputation for integrated package management and access to a large list of free software applications. However, as a voluntary and largely nonhierarchical organization, Debian had a challenging time providing frequent and reliable releases, corporate support and liability, and a top-down consistency.Each new distribution exists for a reason. Creating a new distribution, even a derivative, is far from easy. In large part, Ubuntu exists to build off of...