New Features in Fedora 12 - IV

Creating your own spins
The 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 for building your own live CDs from Fedora software repositories. The primary tool for creating those live CDs is called livecd-creator. Refer to the Live CD HOWTO
(http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FedoraLiveCD/LiveCDHowTo) for information on using livecd-creator.

A nice recent addition to livecd-creator for Fedora is that you can create kickstart files to direct the creation of live CDs. This means that the same format you use to automate installs with anaconda can be used to save the package list and other settings you use to create your live CDs.

Source of Information :  Wiley - Adobe Fedora Bible 2010 Edition Featuring Fedora Linux

New Features in Fedora 12 - III

Getting custom Fedora spins
Fedora 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 install DVD. This is for those who don�t have a DVD drive on their computer.

� Fedora Desktop Live CD (GNOME) � From this single, 700MB live CD you can run a GNOME desktop Fedora 12 system. An install icon on the desktop then lets you install that desktop system to your hard disk.

� Fedora Desktop Live CD (KDE) � Fedora is showing KDE some love by offering a KDE desktop live/install CD of Fedora 12. As with the GNOME desktop, you can select the install icon to install the KDE desktop system to your hard disk.

If you need media to install Fedora on PowerPC (PPC), standard 32-bit PCs (i386) or 64-bit PC (X86_64) computer architectures, you can download ISO images for those media either using either Bittorrent (http://spins.fedoraproject.org) or an official Fedora public mirror site (http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org).

Unofficial custom spins are also available from Fedora. The term spin means a compilation of software from the Fedora software repository, combined into the form of one or more bootable images, typically to fit on a CD or DVD, that lets you either run live or install that set of software or both. There are already Fedora Live Developer, Games, Art, Xfce Desktop, Education, and Electronic Lab spins. One example is the Fedora Art Studio spin (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Artwork/ArtTeamProjects/FedoraArtStudio).

Source of Information :  Wiley - Adobe Fedora Bible 2010 Edition Featuring Fedora Linux

New Features in Fedora 12 - II

PackageKit Software Management improvements
Starting 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 of updates for Fedora, you will again be required to provide the root password to install packages.


NetworkManager improvements
In Fedora 12, NetworkManager is the default method of connecting to and managing wired and wireless networks interfaces. New features for NetworkManager in Fedora 12 include extended support for mobile broadband cards. Those improvements include the ability to display signal strength and scanning for available cellular networks. Full IPv6 support was added to NetworkManager for the current release as well.


SystemTap improvements
You can use the SystemTap facility to gather information about your running Linux system. SystemTap includes command-line tools and a scripting language for interacting with live kernels. In the current release of Fedora, the SystemTap project has improved its examples, tools, and documentation in a variety of areas.


KVM virtualization improvements
Many KVM improvements have been added for Fedora 12. Access rights have been adjusted to allow unprivileged users to use KVM. The gpxe feature is added to improve the ability to PXE boot virtual guests. Improvements to storage capabilities include the ability of VM hosts to discover new SAN storage.


RPMfusion.org third-party software repository
Although not specifically a Fedora or RHEL feature, several of the most popular third-party software repositories for these two distributions have banded together into a single RPM Fusion (rpmfusion.org) repository. By most accounts, this has cut down on a lot of the conflicts that existed between those repositories and provided a single access point for grabbing many software packages that are not in Fedora or RHEL due to challenges such as license restrictions.

Source of Information :  Wiley - Adobe Fedora Bible 2010 Edition Featuring Fedora Linux

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
� BIND (Domain Name System server): version 9.6.1

TIP: These features are constantly being updated. Fedora ships with tools to help keep your system up-todate with the latest versions of software.

Source of Information :  Wiley - Adobe Fedora Bible 2010 Edition Featuring Fedora Linux

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 in RHEL 5, expect it to be the default tool for managing network interfaces in Fedora. NetworkManager is particularly good at managing wireless interfaces and VPN connections.

� Encrypted File Systems � Among the many security features being tested in Fedora before they land in RHEL is the ability to encrypt file systems. Speaking of file systems, you can also expect ext4 to be the default file system type in RHEL 6.

� Virtualization � With Red Hat�s purchase of Qumranet, developers of Kernel Virtual Machine (KVM) technology, you can expect virtualization support to shift from Xen to KVM in RHEL 6. KVM has already been included in several releases of Fedora.

These are just a few of the many features in the latest release of Fedora that you can look for in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Source of Information :  Wiley - Adobe Fedora Bible 2010 Edition Featuring Fedora Linux

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 12, major features include the GNOME 2.28 and KDE 4.3 desktops, Firefox 3.5, OpenOffice.org 3.1, new Ext4 file system support, and the latest Linux kernel.

� Software packaging � Red Hat, Inc. created the RPM Package Manager (RPM) method of packaging Linux. RPMs allow less technically savvy users to easily install, search, manage, and verify Linux software. With RPM tools, you can install from CD, hard disk, over your LAN, or over the Internet. It�s easy to track which packages are installed or to look at the contents of a package. Because RPM is available to the Linux community it has become one of the de facto standards for packaging Linux software. Tools such as yum and PackageKit, which are built to take advantage of RPM technology, have been added to Fedora to extend your ability to install and update packages. Those tools can point to online repositories, so the latest software packages are often only a click away.

� Easy installation � The Fedora installation software (called anaconda) provides easy steps for installing Linux. During installation, anaconda also helps you take the first few steps toward configuring Linux. You can choose which packages to install and how to partition your hard disk. You can even get your desktop GUI ready to go by configuring user accounts, keyboard, mouse, and even your network connection. With Fedora 12, you can install directly from a running live CD, or choose from several different installonly media.

� UNIX System V�style run-level scripts � To have your system services (daemon processes) start up and shut down in an organized way, Fedora and RHEL support the UNIX System V mechanism for starting and stopping services. Shell scripts (that are easy to read and change) are contained in subdirectories of /etc. When the run level changes, such as when the system boots up or you change to single-user mode, messages tell you whether each service started correctly or failed to execute properly. New system start-up technology, such as Fastboot and Upstart technology are being introduced to help developers transition their services to faster boot-up technology.

� Desktop environments (GNOME and KDE) � To make it easier to use Linux, Fedora comes packaged with the GNOME and KDE desktop environments. GNOME is installed by default and offers some nice features that include drag-and-drop protocols and tools for configuring the desktop look and feel. KDE is another popular desktop manager that includes a wide range of tools tailored for the KDE environment, such as the Konqueror Web browser. You can try out separate Fedora live CDs for GNOME and KDE, and then install software from those CDs directly to your hard disk.

� GUI Administration tools � There are some helpful configuration tools for setting up some of the trickier tasks in Linux. Several different GUI tools provide a graphical, form-driven interface for configuring networking, users, file systems, security and initialization services. Instead of creating obtuse command lines or having to create tricky configuration files, these graphical tools can set up those files automatically.

� Testing � The exact configuration that you get on the Fedora distribution has been thoroughly tested by experts around the world. Because Fedora is now represented by a single huge software repository, the most intensely tested software will be that which is offered in official CD and DVD versions of Fedora.

� Automatic updates � The software packages that make up Fedora are constantly being fixed in various ways. To provide a mechanism for the automatic selection, download, and installation of updated software packages, Fedora relies primarily on the yum facility.

With the addition of yum software repositories on the Internet that include Fedora packages, whole sets of RPM software packages can be updated with a single yum update command. The PackageKit facility provides graphical tools with Fedora to install from multiple software repositories on the Internet (as opposed to local CD or DVD media. A desktop applet automatically alerts you when updated packages are available to download and install.

Source of Information :  Wiley - Adobe Fedora Bible 2010 Edition Featuring Fedora Linux

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 should be willing to deal with more frequent upgrades, because release and support cycles are much shorter with Fedora than with RHEL.

Despite its lack of formal support, however, Fedora is being used today in many businesses, schools, and homes around the world. In whatever way you plan to ultimately use Fedora, it is without a doubt a good way to learn and use the latest Linux technology as it is released to the Linux community and before it makes its way to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Many companies and organizations don�t choose between Fedora and RHEL, but instead offe a mixed environment. The most critical servers may run Red Hat Enterprise Linux, with a full support contract with Red Hat. In the same location, Fedora may be used for desktop systems or office-based file and print servers. Organizations that have features similar to those in RHEL without the cost can use CentOS (which is a rebuild of RHEL source code).

Source of Information :  Wiley - Adobe Fedora Bible 2010 Edition Featuring Fedora Linux

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. The
Monitoring Module allows customers to monitor and maintain an entire infrastructure of systems.

� Documentation and training � Manuals and training courses will center on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux distribution.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux products include offerings for both server and desktop operating systems. The base RHEL server system is designed for small server deployment, while RHEL Advanced Platform aims at large installations that can benefit from features such as storage virtualization and high-availability clustering. Standard desktop and workstation versions of RHEL Desktop are available.

Each system in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux family is meant to be compatible with the others. There are Basic, Standard, and Premium editions of these Enterprise systems. While Basic offers only software downloads, standard and premium editions offer hard copy documentation and additional technical support.

Source of Information :  Wiley - Adobe Fedora Bible 2010 Edition Featuring Fedora Linux

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, Ubuntu, openSUSE, SUSE Linux Enterprise, Slackware, Damn Small Linux, Gentoo, and Mandriva. For many years, the most popular commercial distribution was Red Hat Linux.

In September 2003, Red Hat, Inc. changed its way of doing business. That change resulted in the formation of the Red Hat�sponsored Fedora Project to take the development of Red Hat Linux technology into the future. But what does that mean to individuals and businesses that have come to rely on Red Hat Linux?



Red Hat forms the Fedora Project
With the latest Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux distributions, the promises Red Hat made to the open source community and to Red Hat�s commercial customers have solidified. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux product offering has become a solid, reliable system for mass deployment of Linux in large organizations. The Fedora Project has evolved into an excellent cutting-edge Linux distribution with a massive number of high-quality software packages available to Fedora users.

A few years ago, things didn�t look so rosy.

The announcement of the Fedora Project by Red Hat, Inc. at first prompted more questions than answers about the future direction of the company and its flagship Red Hat Linux product. In fact, it seemed that nothing named Red Hat Linux even existed anymore. Instead, what was Red Hat Linux would be reflected by Linux distributions coming from two paths:

� Fedora Project (http://www.fedoraproject.org) � An open source project, beginning from a Red Hat Linux 9 base, that produces its own Linux distribution. While the project is sponsored by Red Hat, Inc., there is no official support for the Linux distribution (simply called Fedora) that the project produces.

� Red Hat Enterprise Linux (http://www.redhat.com/rhel) � An official set of commercial Linux products from Red Hat, Inc. that are offered on an annual subscription basis. Red Hat backs up its Enterprise product line with technical support, training, and documentation.


The primary results of the Fedora Project are sets of binary and source code packages (distributed as DVD or CD images) containing the Linux distribution referred to as Fedora. Before its name was changed to Fedora, that distribution was being tested simply as the next in the series of Red Hat Linux distributions (presumably, Red Hat Linux 10).

The name change from Red Hat Linux to Fedora Core (and later to just Fedora) wasn�t the only difference between Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, however. Red Hat, Inc. also changed its association with Fedora in the following ways:

� No boxed sets � Red Hat decided to not sell Fedora through retail channels. The evershortening release cycle was making it difficult to manage the flow of boxed sets to and from retail channels every few months, and Red Hat believed that early adopters of Linux technology were clever enough to get the software themselves.

� Short guaranteed update cycle � Critical fixes and security patches will be available for each Fedora release for a much shorter period of time than on RHEL products. As a result, users will have to upgrade or reinstall the system more often.

� No technical support offerings � There are no technical support programs available from Red Hat for Fedora. Even so, by sponsoring the Fedora project, you get a form of free support as Red Hat staffers fix bugs and integrate the latest Linux technology.

� No Red Hat documentation � The set of manuals that came with the previous Red Hat Linux product was not brought over to Fedora. Instead, a series of small taskoriented documents are being collected for the project in article format. The Fedora Documentation project (http://docs.fedoraproject.org) is, however, following a path to release Red Hat documentation under an open source licence so that
the Fedora Project can develop and distribute that documentation.

By not creating a whole support industry around Fedora, that project is free to produce software release on a much shorter schedule (usually a six-month release cycle). This allows Fedora users to always have the latest software features and fixes included with a recent version of the operating system. But the Fedora Project is more than just the Fedora Linux release. It is really a collection of projects (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Projects) that also includes the following:

� One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) � The Fedora Project is working with Red Hat, Inc. and the OLPC project (http://www.laptop.org) to provide laptops to children around the world. Fedora software is being used as the foundation for the software part of OLPC.

� Fedora Ambassadors and Marketing � Focuses on spreading the word about Fedora to the world. Ambassadors have been assigned to different parts of the U.S. and to countries around the world to represent Fedora to their areas. The marketing project is helping to encourage presentations, developer conferences, and other initiatives to publicize Fedora.

� Fedora Live CD Tools � The Fedora Live CD initiative centers on a set of tools under the name livecd-creator. Using livecd-creator, the Fedora Project produces its own official Fedora live CDs. A live CD provides a means of running a Linux system on a computer without installing it to hard disk. It offers a great way to try out Fedora without disturbing anything installed on your hard disk. Because livecd-creator is itself an open source project, you can use the tools to create your own live CDs. Many advances to the live CD technology have occurred in recent releases of Fedora, including liveUSB versions and integration with kickstart files.

� Fedora Artwork � Creates the graphics used with Fedora (backgrounds, logos, login screens, and so on), primarily using tools that are distributed with Fedora.

� Fedora Documentation � Besides seeking to release Red Hat documentation under an open source license and maintaining it publicly with the Fedora Project, the Fedora Documentation Project is pursuing other initiatives. Those include assigning beat writers (to cover various software topics) and editors (to clean up and manage documentation contributions).

For information on the status of these and other Fedora projects, you can refer to the Fedora Weekly News (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FWN). If you are interested in contributing to any of the Fedora projects, the Fedora Projects page mentioned earlier is a good place to start. The Fedora Engineering Steering Committee (FESCo) provides oversight and guidelines for which projects to accept into Fedora. See http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Development/SteeringCommittee for more on FESCo.

Third-party repositories for Fedora containing software packages that Red Hat won�t distribute due to licensing or patent issues have also grown and stabilized lately.

As the end-user forum of choice for Fedora users, Red Hat has endorsed the FedoraForum.org (http://www.fedoraforum.org) site. That site already has more than 149,000 members and over 1,260,000 posts you can search for answers to your questions.

Source of Information :  Wiley - Adobe Fedora Bible 2010 Edition Featuring Fedora Linux

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 of the code as you choose, and the capability of using inexpensive hardware and compatible add-on applications that are free to download and use. Although commercial operating systems tend to encourage upgrading to more powerful hardware, Linux doesn�t require that (although faster hardware and larger disks are nice to have).

In terms of reliability, the general consensus is that Linux is comparable to many commercial UNIX systems but more reliable than most desktop-oriented operating systems. This is especially true if you rely on your computer system to stay up because it is a Web server or a file server. (You don�t have to reboot every time you change something, unless you�ve replaced the kernel itself.).

This reliability also extends into the realm of safety. While there have been exploits aimed at Linux software, Linux users are for the most part safe from the culture of malware and viruses that plague Windows users. With so many people peering at the Linux source code, a benefit of its freedom, mistakes are often fixed in record time. Large-scale Linux deployments don�t need to install anti-virus software, a situation you would never allow with Windows in a corporate setting. Furthermore, when people install anti-virus software on Linux, it is usually to scan files and e-mail messages for Windows viruses, to help the distraught users of Windows.

Because you can get the source code, you are free to change any part of the Linux system, along with any open source software that comes with it, in any way that you choose. Unlike many self-contained commercial products, open source software tends to be built in pieces that are meant to interact with other pieces, so you are free to mix and match components to suit your tastes. As I mentioned earlier, Linux is a culture that encourages interoperability. For example, if you don�t like a window manager, you can plug in a different one because so many were built to operate within the same framework.

Another advantage of using Linux is that help is always available on the Internet. There is probably someone out there in a Linux newsgroup or mailing list willing to help you get around your problem. Because the source code is available, if you need something fixed you can even patch the code yourself! On the other hand, I�ve seen commercial operating system vendors sit on reported problems for months without fixing them. Remember that the culture of Linux is one that thrives on people helping other people.

Source of Information :  Wiley - Adobe Fedora Bible 2010 Edition Featuring Fedora Linux

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 time, which means that not only can you have many programs going at once, but that the Linux operating system can itself have programs running in the background. Many of these system processes make it possible for Linux to work as a server, with these background processes listening to the network for requests to log in to your system, view a Web page, print a document, or copy a file. These background processes are referred to as daemons.


� Hardware support � You can configure support for almost every type of hardware that can be connected to a computer. There is support for floppy disk drives, CDs, removable disks (such as DVDs and USB flash drives), sound cards, tape devices, video cards, and most anything else you can think of. As device interfaces, such as USB and FireWire, have been added to computers, support for those devices has been added to Linux as well.

For Linux to support a hardware device, Linux needs a driver, a piece of software that interfaces between the Linux kernel and the device. Drivers are available in the Linux kernel to support hundreds of computer hardware components that can be added or removed as needed.


� Networking connectivity � To connect your Linux system to a network, Linux offers support for a variety of local area network (LAN) network interface cards (NICs), modems, and serial devices. In addition to LAN protocols, such as Ethernet (both wired and wireless), all the most popular upper-level networking protocols can be built-in. The most popular of these protocols is TCP/IP (used to connect to the Internet). Other protocols, such as IPX (for Novell networks) and X.25 (a packet-switching network type that is popular in Europe), are also available.


� Network servers � Providing networking services to the client computers on the LAN or to the entire Internet is what Linux does best. A variety of software packages are available that enable you to use Linux as a print server, file server, FTP server, mail server, Web server, news server, or workgroup (DHCP or NIS) server.


To make a Linux distribution useful, components need to be added on top of the Linux kernel. For humans to access a Linux system, they can enter commands to a shell or use graphical interfaces to open menus, windows, and icons. Then you need actual applications to run. In particular, a useful Linux desktop system includes the following:


� Graphical user interface (X Window System) � The powerful framework for working with graphical applications in Linux is referred to as the X Window System (or simply X). X handles the functions of opening X-based graphical user interface (GUI) applications and displaying them on an X server process (the process that manages your screen, mouse, and keyboard).

On top of X, you use an X-based desktop environment to provide a desktop metaphor and window manager to provide the look-and-feel of your GUI (icons, window frames, menus, and colors, or a combination of those items called themes). There are a few desktop environments and and even more window managers to choose from. (Fedora focuses on the GNOME and KDE desktop environments, but also has several other desktop environments, such as Xfce, and window managers, such as Blackbox and AfterStep, available. )


� Application support � Because of compatibility with POSIX and several different application programming interfaces (APIs), a wide range of free and open source software is available for Linux systems. Compatibility with the GNU C libraries is a major reason for the wide-ranging application support. Often, making an open source application available to a particular version of Linux can be done by simply recompiling the source code to run on that Linux version.

Source of Information :  Wiley - Adobe Fedora Bible 2010 Edition Featuring Fedora Linux

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 and Windows didn�t cut it.

UNIX, on the other hand, grew out of a culture where technology was king and marketing people were, well, hard to find. Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey, was a think tank where ideas came first and profits were somebody else�s problem. A quote from Dennis Ritchie, co-creator of UNIX and designer of the C programming language, in a 1980 lecture on the evolution of UNIX, sums up the spirit that started UNIX. He was commenting on both his hopes and those of his colleagues for the UNIX project after a similar project called Multics had just failed:

What we wanted to preserve was not just a good environment in which to do programming, but a system around which a fellowship could form. We knew from experience that the essence of communal computing as supplied by remote-access, time-shared machines, is not just to type programs into a terminal instead of a keypunch, but to encourage close communication.

In that spirit, the first source code of UNIX was distributed free to universities. Like Linux, the availability of UNIX source code made it possible for a diverse population of software developers to make their own enhancements to UNIX and share them with others.

By the early 1980s, UNIX development moved from the organization in Murray Hill to a more commercially oriented development laboratory in Summit, New Jersey (a few miles down the road). During that time, UNIX began to find commercial success as the computing system of choice for applications such as AT&T�s telephone switching equipment, for supercomputer applications such as modeling weather patterns, and for controlling NASA space projects.

Major computer hardware vendors licensed the UNIX source code to run on their computers. To try to create an environment of fairness and community to its OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), AT&T began standardizing what these different ports of UNIX had to be able to do to still be called UNIX. To that end, POSIX standards and the AT&T UNIX System V Interface Definition (SVID) were specifications UNIX vendors could use to create compliant UNIX systems. Those same documents also served as road maps for the creation of Linux.

Elsewhere, the UNIX source code that had been distributed to universities had taken on a life of its own. The Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) began life in the late 1970s as patches to the AT&T UNIX source code from students and staff at the University of California at Berkeley. Over the years, the AT&T code was rewritten and BSD became freely distributed, with offshoot projects such as FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD still available.

Linux has been described as a UNIX-like operating system that reflects a combination of SVID, POSIX, and BSD compliance. Linux continues to aim toward POSIX compliance, as well as compliance with standards set by the new owner of the UNIX trademark, The Open Group (http://www.unix.org). Much of the direction of Linux today comes from the
Linux Foundation (http://www.linuxfoundation.org), which was founded in 2007 by a merger of the Free Standards Group and the Open Source Development Labs.

Source of Information :  Wiley - Adobe Fedora Bible 2010 Edition Featuring Fedora Linux

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 just a few mouse clicks.

4. Get online � Get on the Internet using the NetworkManager and then browse the Web, send e-mail, chat, and even video conference. With NetworkManager, even getting connected to wireless networks is simple. Share files using FTP or Bittorrent swarming network transfer software.

5. Manage music collections � Launch Rhythmbox to gather, organize, and play music from your hard disk, CDs, or network file systems. Try new ways to stream audio and video.

6. Publish your ideas � Choose from dozens of publishing tools to create documents (OpenOffice.org Writer), hard-copy page layouts (Scribus), and vector graphics (Inkscape). Then publish your work on paper or the Web.

7. Share an Internet connection, securely � Fedora can be set up as a router and a firewall. With a home or small office LAN setup, you can use Fedora to share an Internet connection among multiple Linux, Windows, or Mac systems. Then set up a firewall in Fedora to protect your LAN from intruders.

8. Run Windows applications or Windows itself � By adding the wine software packages, you can run many Windows applications right from a Fedora desktop. Use virtualization to run Windows, UNIX, or other versions of Linux on the same PC.

9. Create a home server � Learn to configure a Web server (Cha, FTP server and a mail server. Then use that knowledge to create a public Internet server. Your server can run from your home Internet connection. Or, you can share printers, disks, and other resources between all your home computers.

10. Create presentations � Start up OpenOffice.org Impress to create presentations from scratch or using templates. Tailor presentations to display as slide shows, view onscreen, or print on paper.

Source of Information :  Wiley - Adobe Fedora Bible 2010 Edition Featuring Fedora Linux

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 and cons of IRAM:

IRAM pros and cons
Advantages
� High band-width (compared to traditional DRAM)
�Low latency (compared to traditional DRAM)
� Energy effectiveness.Compactness

Inconveniences
� Suitability of DRAM manufacturing process for processor (logic) implementation
� High-temperature operation of the chip (because of highperformance logic), making DRAM refresh cycles very frequent
� Limiting the memory size of a system to what fits on a single chip
� No flexibility in the processing power/memory capacity ratio
� Cost of manufacturing test
� Industry acceptance



These judgements arose from the IRAM project, and deserve some comment.

� DRAM processes optimize for different capabilities from the highperformance logic processes generally adopted for microprocessors. Therefore, the natural question is: is an IRAM built in a DRAM process (yielding markedly sub-optimal processor performance) or a logic process (yielding markedly sub-optimal DRAM)?

� One may circumvent the memory capacity limitation of pure IRAM by providing interfaces to external memory (perhaps serial, for cost reasons); but then some of the IRAM advantage is lost.

� With the pure IRAM approach, each chip has a well-defined processing and memory capacity. Changing this ratio implies changing the chip. The most natural system architecture for such a device is a loosely-coupled multiprocessor. Note that integrating a message-passing interface (for example, RapidIO) would not change the processing/capacity ratio. An SMP would mean major complicated changes to an IRAM chip, and would strongly affect performance (inter-chip bandwidths are unlikely to match within-chip bandwidths).

� A significant portion of the cost of a DRAM is manufacturing tests. Adding a processor must increase this cost noticeably, but an IRAM cost must be compared with the cost of a processor plus the cost of a memory.

� For an IRAM-like approach to succeed, it must be widely adopted. For this to occur, a major industrial gulf would likely have to be bridged�memory manufacturers (whose economics have long been controlled by commodity-like cost constraints) and microprocessor manufacturers (whose pricing reflects a belief in value-add through superior IP).

We should also note�reflecting the concerns of an earlier section�that an IRAM would likely offer a new instruction set architecture, and would thus run into many more barriers as well; it is possible that a Java-like approach might modify this harsh judgement. An IRAM must also choose to follow DRAM interface standards or not; either course of action will have cost and usability consequences.

And finally, we must note once again that any silicon technology which does not achieve wide adoption is destined to disappear.

Source of Information :  Elsevier Server Architectures 2005

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 their community.

One of the downsides to using Facebook instead of a private community is that although the Group can be private, you don�t control the data. With that said, heed caution when sharing anything private or proprietary. You don�t control the data and are not privy to decisions that Facebook may make concerning the platform, therefore you wouldn�t want to wake up one day to find out that Facebook decided to make Groups completely public, thus disclosing confidential data that could be detrimental to your company and a benefit to your competition. If you have those needs, you�re best suited to contact one of the many private enterprise-level community platforms.


Using Facebook as a Focus Group
Continuing with the concept of using Facebook as a private community for your company, what about creating a Group as a private focus group for your company, product, or service?

Using a Group, you could invite in a select group of your prospects or customers and use it as a platform to ask for candid feedback, provide demos, and open access to certain groups or individuals within your company or shots of upcoming products or software releases. Again, remember, don�t show anything you�re worried about leaking out. Though, if you�re engaged in any type of blogger or PR relations, that is a risk you always run into when showing early releases of a product or software version.

As Facebook continues to grow at a rapid rate, it becomes one of the most attractive properties on the Internet to form a community. Although the ability to form a community around something such as an interest, hobby, company, or celebrity seems natural, social media, of which Facebook is a major part of, provides us a different type of opportunity.

Source of Information :  Facebook Marketing Designing Your Next Marketing Campaign

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 a community member interacts on your Page, either by uploading a photo or video, leaving a Wall post, commenting on a status update, or pressing the Like button, Facebook can filter that interaction to the top of the news feed on the home page for other �fans� of your Page and the specific user�s feed. If there is consistent interaction, you can stay top of mind, at least on Facebook, with your prospects, customers, or fans. If you couple that with regular ads and the addition of new content within Facebook and other areas around the interwebs, you�ll be on your way to developing a strong online brand.

An example of a company that exemplifies the use of Facebook for branding and interaction is HubSpot. HubSpot is a Cambridge, MA-based company that makes an inbound marketing software that helps businesses �get found.� As of November 2009 HubSpot had more 7,500 fans. Although the number alone is impressive, simply having a large number of fans or followers doesn�t mean anything. However, HubSpot doesn�t just have a large following, they have a large and engaged following. HubSpot regularly posts a range of different information to its Facebook Page. On any given status update, HubSpot receives a dozen or more Likes and an equal number of comments. HubSpot also has an active Discussions area and utilizes the Events, Video, and several other features extensively.

To provide consistent and diversified content can become harder and harder as you go along. When you first set up your community on Facebook you�ll think of all kinds of information to share. But, as time goes on, you might find yourself struggling to provide a consistent flow of information.

Source of Information :  Facebook Marketing Designing Your Next Marketing Campaign

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, they�re also expensive and more suited for larger companies and organizations. Also, because these premium communities are set up on a different domain or a subdomain of your website, you then have to work harder to bring people to the party.

Facebook serves this purpose perfectly. Facebook has a large pond from which users can fish for others with similar interests or hobbies. You need to decide between a Page or Group when figuring out what features will be needed for your community or what your specific preferences are. But, no matter which you choose, you can quickly and easily set up a community, for free, on Facebook.

When the community is set up, you should search for other similar Pages and Groups and begin engaging there as well. Don�t be spammy about it, but you�ll slowly gain users over into your community the more you engage in the other communities and demonstrate a passion, knowledge, and presence.

Another benefit of using Facebook to set up communities, either using a Page or Group, is that it offers greater reach by breaking down geographic walls. Of course, some physical communities grow large enough that they break into multiple chapters with localized community groups all over the world. But, those groups still remain local, and although some larger organizational bylaws may exist to help guide the local organization, they form their own separate and unique communities as well.

With Facebook it�s not necessary to separate into localized communities, unless the users decide that is what is best for them. Instead, they can all interact and benefit from one another.

As you build your community, you need to decide on who will be your community manager. Ideally, this person should be either you or someone from your team. As the community manager you need to give your community reasons to keep coming back. All of us nowadays have too many things competing for our attention. Those that tend to get our attention will be the items that stay top of mind and that we find interesting, helpful, useful, or otherwise needed. Therefore, to continue to grow an active and growing community on Facebook, you need to engage your community; however, you can�t just engage them by simply updating your Page or Group status every day. You need to provide content in different formats because all members of your community will demand to receive their information and content in different ways. Some of us prefer video whereas others love photos, and some may want thought-provoking links to read.

Let�s explore some of the different types of communities that can be formed on Facebook, how users are utilizing them, and along the way, some tips to help you maximize engagement within your community.

Source of Information :  Facebook Marketing Designing Your Next Marketing Campaign

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 for use in any scenario where the desktop version is unusable (e.g., not enough RAM) or for those with more advanced needs (e.g., automated deployments or special partitioning requirements). With this CD, you boot into an installer and then run Ubuntu when the installation is complete.

Ubuntu 10.04 officially supports two main computer types, or architectures, and a couple of additional variations:

� i386: This supports all Intel or compatible processors except those that require AMD64. This includes the new Apple hardware. If you are not certain which you need, use this one. It will work on either 32-bit or 64-bit systems, so it is the default choice.

� AMD64: If you know you are using a processor based on the AMD64 or EM64T architecture (e.g., Athlon64, Opteron, EM64T Xeon, or Core2), you should choose this version because it will be a bit more efficient on your hardware.

� ARM: ARM is a low-powered chip commonly found in cell phones and similar mobile devices. ARM Inc., the makers of ARM, and Canonical have an agreement to build the entire Ubuntu archive on ARM, which makes Ubuntu the first major distribution to support ARM as a standard rather than custom device�specific distribution, such as OpenWRT is for routers. For a list of the current ARM chip version being supported, please see www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/arm.

Source of Information : Prentice Hall The official Ubuntu Book 5th Edition 2010 

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 exists to allay those fears. Time and consistency has also contributed greatly to the confidence of companies and individuals in Ubuntu, and the foundation will remain to ensure that consistency in the future.

If something unexpected were to happen to Shuttleworth or to Canonical that caused either to be unable to support Ubuntu development and maintain the distribution, the Ubuntu Foundation exists to carry on many of Canonical�s core activities well into the future. Through the existence of the Foundation, the Ubuntu project can make the types of long-term commitments and promises it does.

The one activity that the Foundation can and does engage in is receiving donations on behalf of the Ubuntu project. These donations, and only these donations, are then put into action on behalf of Ubuntu in accordance with the wishes of the development team and the Technical Board. For the most part, these contributions are spent on �bounties� given to community members who have achieved important feature goals for the Ubuntu project.

Source of Information : Prentice Hall The official Ubuntu Book 5th Edition 2010  

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 but is also used for the development of other distributions�especially those based on Ubuntu. Launchpad consists of the following major pieces.

� Rosetta:
A Web-based system for easily translating almost any piece of free software from English into almost any language. Rosetta is named after the Rosetta Stone, which helped linguists finally crack the code of Egyptian hieroglyphics.

� Malone:
The bug-tracking system that Ubuntu uses to manage and track bugs. It both tracks bugs across different versions of Ubuntu and allows the Ubuntu community to see the status of that bug in other places, including other distributions and potentially upstream. Malone is a reference to the gangster movie musical Bugsy Malone.

� Blueprint:
The specification writing and tracking software that Ubuntu and a small number of other projects use to track desired features and their status and to help manage and report on release processes.

� Answers:
A simple support tracker built into Launchpad that provides one venue where users can make support requests and the community can help answer them in ways that are documented and connected to the other related functionality in Launchpad.

� Soyuz:
The distribution management part of Launchpad that now controls the processes by which Ubuntu packages are built, tested, and migrated between different parts of the distribution. Soyuz is a reference to the type of Russian rocket that took Mark Shuttleworth to space. The word soyuz, in Russian, means �union.�

Launchpad and its components are discussed in more depth in Chapter 10. The importance of Launchpad in the Ubuntu project cannot be overstated. In addition to handling bugs, translations, and distribution building, Launchpad also handles Web site authentication and codifies team membership in the Ubuntu project. It is the place where all work in Ubuntu is tracked and recorded. Any member of the Ubuntu community and any person who contributes to Ubuntu in almost any way will, in due course, create an account in Launchpad.

Source of Information : Prentice Hall The official Ubuntu Book 5th Edition 2010 

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 and, when this was achieved, worked to have Ubuntu certified as a platform that would run DB2. Similarly, Canonical worked with Dell to ensure that Ubuntu could be installed and supported on Dell laptops and desktops as an option for its customers. A third example is the production of this book, which, published by Pearson Education�s Prentice Hall imprint, was a product of work with Canonical.

Canonical also plays an important support role in the Ubuntu project in three ways. First, Canonical supports the development of the Ubuntu project. For example, Canonical system administrators keep servers up that support development and distribution of Ubuntu. Second, Canonical helps Ubuntu users and businesses directly by offering phone and e-mail support. Additionally, Canonical has helped build a large commercial Ubuntu support operation by arranging for support contracts with larger companies and organizations. This support is over and above the free (i.e., gratis) support offered by the community�this commercial support is offered at a fee and is either part of a longer-term flat-fee support contract or is pay-per-instance. By offering commercial support for Ubuntu in a variety of ways, Canonical has made a business for itself and helps make Ubuntu a more palatable option for the businesses, large and small, that are looking for an enterprise or enterprise-class GNU/Linux product with support contracts like those offered by other commercial GNU/Linux distributions.

Finally, Ubuntu supports other support organizations. Canonical does not seek or try to enforce a monopoly on Ubuntu support; it proudly lists hundreds of other organizations offering support for Ubuntu on the Ubuntu Web pages. Instead, Canonical offers what is called second-tier support to these organizations. Because Canonical employs many of the core Ubuntu developers, the company is very well suited to taking action on many of the tougher problems that these support organizations may run into. With its concentrated expertise, Canonical can offer this type of backup, or secondary support, to these organizations.

Source of Information : Prentice Hall The official Ubuntu Book 5th Edition 2010 

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 and ensure that they are met.

In this way, Canonical ensures that Ubuntu�s bottom-line commitments are kept. Of course, Canonical does not fund all Ubuntu work, nor could it. Canonical can release a distribution every six months, but that distribution will be made much better and more usable through contributions from the community of users. Most features, most new pieces of software, almost all translations, almost all documentation, and much more are created outside of Canonical. Instead, Canonical ensures that deadlines are met and that the essential work, regardless of whether it�s fun, gets done.

Canonical, Ltd. was incorporated on the Isle of Man�a tiny island nation between Wales and Ireland that is mostly well known as a haven for international businesses. Since Canonical�s staff is sprinkled across the globe and no proper office is necessary, the Isle of Man seemed like as good a place as any for the company to hang its sign.

In early 2010, Mark Shuttleworth, Canonical�s first CEO, stepped down, and longtime Chief Operating Officer, Jane Silber, became the new CEO. Shuttleworth retains his position as the head of the Ubuntu Community Council and Ubuntu Technical boards. He focuses his energy on product design and working with enterprise customers and partners, and leaves the day-to-day running of Canonical to Silber. Silber has been with Canonical since before the first release, and the company is expected to continue expanding and operating on its current path.

Source of Information : Prentice Hall The official Ubuntu Book 5th Edition 2010 

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 reads as follows.

Microsoft has a majority market share | Non-free software is holding back innovation in the IT industry, restricting access to IT to a small part of the world�s population and limiting the ability of software developers to reach their full potential, globally. This bug is widely evident in the PC industry.

Steps to repeat:
1. Visit a local PC store.

What happens:
2. Observe that a majority of PCs for sale have non-free software preinstalled.
3. Observe very few PCs with Ubuntu and free software preinstalled.

What should happen:
1. A majority of the PCs for sale should include only free software such as Ubuntu.
2. Ubuntu should be marketed in a way such that its amazing features and benefits would be apparent and known by all.
3. The system shall become more and more user friendly as time passes.

Many have described Ubuntu�s success in the last several years as amazing. For a new GNU/Linux distribution, the level and speed of success have been unprecedented. During this period, Ubuntu has lived up to both its philosophical and technical commitments, achieved many of its goals, and built a vibrant community of users and contributors who have accomplished monumental amounts while collaborating in a culture of respect and understanding fully in line with the Ubuntu Code of Conduct. However, Bug #1 demonstrates that the Ubuntu project will be declared a complete success only when Ubuntu�s standards of freedom, technical excellence, and conduct are the norm everywhere in the software world.

Source of Information : Prentice Hall The official Ubuntu Book 5th Edition 2010 

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 the release schedule�by six weeks for the first LTS release to ensure it was done right�and only then after obtaining community consensus on the decision. The team then doubled its efforts and made the next release in a mere four and a half months, putting its release schedule back on track. Frequent releases are important because users can then use the latest and greatest free software available�something that is essential in a development environment as vibrant and rapidly changing and improving as the free software community. Predictable releases are important, especially to businesses, because it means that they can organize their business plans around Ubuntu. Through consistent releases, Ubuntu can provide a platform that businesses and derivative distributions can rely upon to grow and build.

While releasing frequently and reliably is important, the released software must then be supported. Ubuntu, like all distributions, must deal with the fact that all software has bugs. Most bugs are minor, but fixing them may introduce even worse issues. Therefore, fixing bugs after a release must be done carefully or not at all. The Ubuntu project engages in major changes, including bug fixes, between releases only when the changes can be extensively tested. However, some bugs risk the loss of users� information or pose a serious security vulnerability. These bugs are fixed immediately and made available as updates for the released distribution. The Ubuntu community works hard to find and minimize all types of bugs before releases and is largely successful in squashing the worst. However, because there is always the possibility that more of these bugs will be found, Ubuntu commits to supporting every release for 18 months after it is released. In the case of LTS releases such as the original LTS, Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, released in 2006, the project went well beyond even this and committed to support the release for three full years on desktop computers and for five years in a server configuration. This proved so popular with businesses, institutions, and the users of Ubuntu servers that in 2008 and 2010, Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and 10.04 LTS were released with similar three- and five-year desktop and server extended support commitments.

This bipartite approach to servers and desktops implies the third major technical commitment of the Ubuntu project: support for both servers and desktop computers in separate but equally emphasized modes. While Ubuntu continues to be more well known, and perhaps more popular, in desktop configurations, there exist teams of Ubuntu developers focused both on server and desktop users. The Ubuntu project believes that both desktops and servers are essential and provides installation methods on every CD for both types of systems. Ubuntu provides tested and supported software appropriate to the most common actions in both environments and documentation for each. This book contains information on running Ubuntu both on the desktop and on a server. The release of 6.06 LTS with long-term support successfully helped pave the way for reliable long-term server support for Ubuntu and helped grow the now-vibrant Ubuntu server community. The 8.04 LTS release repeated this success with a more up-to-date platform, now being updated again with 10.04 LTS.

Finally, the Ubuntu project is committed to making it as easy as possible for users to transcend their role as consumers and users of software and to take advantage of each of the freedoms central to our philosophy. As a result, Ubuntu has tried to focus its development around the use and promotion of a single programming language, Python. The project has worked to ensure that Python is widely used throughout the system. By ensuring that desktop applications, text-based or console applications, and many of the �guts� of the system are written in or extensible in Python, Ubuntu is working to ensure that users need learn only one language in order to take advantage of, automate, and tweak many parts of their computer systems.

Source of Information : Prentice Hall The official Ubuntu Book 5th Edition 2010 

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.
� Be collaborative.
� When you disagree, consult others.
� When you are unsure, ask for help.
� Step down considerately.

Many of these headings seem like common sense or common courtesy to many, and that is by design. Nothing in the CoC is controversial or radical, and it was never designed to be.

Source of Information : Prentice Hall The official Ubuntu Book 5th Edition 2010 

More difficult is that nothing is easy to enforce or decide because acting considerately, respectfully, and collaboratively is often very subjective. There is room for honest disagreements and occasional hurt feelings. These are accepted shortcomings. The CoC was not designed to be a law with explicit prohibitions on phrases, language, or actions. Instead, it aims to provide a constitution and a reminder that considerate and respectful discussion is essential to the health and vitality of the project. In situations where there is a serious disagreement on whether a community member has violated or is violating the code, the Community Council�is available to arbitrate disputes and decide what action, if any, is appropriate.

Nobody involved in the Ubuntu project, including Mark Shuttleworth and the other members of the Community Council, is above the CoC. The CoC is never optional and never waived. In fact, the Ubuntu community has also created a Leadership Code of Conduct (LCoC), which extends and expands on the CoC and describes additional requirements and expectations for those in leadership positions in the community. Of course, in no way was either code designed to eliminate conflict or disagreement. Arguments are at least as common in Ubuntu as they are in other projects and online communities. However, there is a common understanding within the project that arguments should happen in an environment of collaboration and mutual respect. This allows for better arguments with better results�and with less hurt feelings and fewer bruised egos.

While they have been sometimes incorrectly used as such, the CoC and LCoC are not sticks to be wielded against an opponent in an argument. Instead, they are useful points of reference upon which we can assume consensus within the Ubuntu community. Much more frequently, if a group in the community feels a member is acting in a way that is out of line with the code, the group will gently remind the community member, often privately, that the CoC is in effect. In almost all situations, this is enough to avoid any further action or conflict. Very few CoC violations are ever brought before the Community Council.

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 philosophy
Our 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 given every opportunity to use software, even if they work under a disability.

Our philosophy is reflected in the software we produce and included in our distribution. As a result, the licensing terms of the software we distribute are measured against our philosophy, using the Ubuntu License Policy.

When you install Ubuntu, almost all of the software installed already meets these ideals, and we are working to ensure that every single piece of software you need is available under a license that gives you those freedoms.

Currently, we make a specific exception for some �drivers� that are available only in binary form, without which many computers will not complete the Ubuntu installation. We place these in a restricted section of your system, which makes them easy to remove if you do not need them.


� Free software
For Ubuntu, the �free� in free software is used primarily in reference to freedom and not to price�although we are committed to not charging for Ubuntu. The most important thing about Ubuntu is that it confers rights of software freedom on the people who install and use it. These freedoms enable the Ubuntu community to grow and to continue to share its collective experience and expertise to improve Ubuntu and make it suitable for use in new countries and new industries. Quoting the Free Software Foundation�s �What Is Free Software,� the freedoms at the core of free software are defined as

� The freedom to run the program for any purpose

� The freedom to study how the program works and adapt it to your Needs

� The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others

� The freedom to improve the program and release your improvements to the public so that everyone benefits


� Open source
Open source is a term coined in 1998 to remove the ambiguity in the English word free. The Open Source Initiative described open source software in the Open Source Definition. Open source continues to enjoy growing success and wide recognition.

Ubuntu is happy to call itself open source. While some refer to free and open source as competing movements with different ends, we do not see free and open source software as either distinct or incompatible. Ubuntu proudly includes members who identify with both movements.


Here, the Ubuntu project makes explicit its goals that every user of software should have the freedoms required by free software. This is important for a number of reasons. First, it offers users all of the practical benefits of software that runs better, faster, and more flexibly. More important, it gives every user the capability to transcend his or her role as a user and a consumer of software. Ubuntu wants software to be empowering and to work in the ways that users want it to work. Ubuntu wants all users to have the ability to make sure it works for them. To do this, software must be free, so Ubuntu makes this a requirement and a philosophical promise.

Of course, the core goals of Ubuntu do not end with the free software definition. Instead, the project articulates two new but equally important goals. The first of these, that all computer users should be able to use their computers in their chosen languages, is a nod to the fact that the majority of the world�s population does not speak English, while the vast majority of software interacts only in that language. To be useful, source code comments, programming languages, documentation, and the texts and menus in computer programs must be written in some language. Arguably, the world�s most international language is a reasonably good choice. However, there is no language that everyone speaks, and English is not useful to the majority of the world�s population that does not speak it. A computer can be a great tool for empowerment and education, but only if the user can understand the words in the computer�s interface. As a result, Ubuntu believes that it is the project�s�and community�s�responsibility to ensure that every user can easily use Ubuntu to read and write in the language with which he or she is most comfortable.

The ability to make modifications�a requirement of free software and of Ubuntu�s first philosophical point�makes this type of translation possible. While it helps explain Ubuntu only to the relatively small subset of the world that already speaks English. More important, it is distributed under a Creative Commons license that allows for translation, modification, and redistribution.

Finally, just as no person should be blocked from using a computer simply because he or she does not know a particular language, no user should be blocked from using a computer because of a disability. Ubuntu must be accessible to users with motor disabilities, vision disabilities, and hearing disabilities. It should provide input and output in a variety of forms to account for each of these situations and for others. A significant percentage of the world�s most intelligent and creative individuals also have disabilities. Ubuntu�s usefulness should not be limited when it can be inclusive. More important, Ubuntu wants to welcome and to be able to harness the ability of these individuals as community members to build a better and more effective community.

Source of Information : Prentice Hall The official Ubuntu Book 5th Edition 2010

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 support staff, and users. While Canonical employs a core group of several dozen active contributors to Ubuntu, the distribution has, from day one, encouraged and incorporated contributions from anyone in the community, and rewards and recognizes contributions by all. Rather than taking center stage, paid contributors are not employed by the Ubuntu project�instead they are employed by Canonical, Ltd. These employees are treated simply as another set of community members. They must apply for membership in the Ubuntu community and have their contributions recognized in the same way as anyone else. All nonbusinessrelated communication about the Ubuntu project occurs in public and in the community. Volunteer community members occupy a majority of the seats on the two most important governing boards of the Ubuntu project: the Technical Board, which oversees all technical matters, and the Community Council, which approves new Ubuntu members and resolves disputes. Seats on both boards are approved by the relevant community groups, developers for the Technical Board and Ubuntu members for the Community Council.

In order to harness and encourage the contributions of its community, Ubuntu strives to balance the important role that Canonical plays with the value of empowering individuals in the community. The Ubuntu project is based on a fundamental belief that great software is built, supported, and maintained only in a strong relationship with the individuals who use the software. In this way, by fostering and supporting a vibrant community, Ubuntu can achieve much more than it could through paid development alone. The people on the project believe that while the contributions of Canonical and Mark Shuttleworth have provided an important catalyst for the processes that have built Ubuntu, it is the community that brought the distribution its success to date. The project members believe that it is only through increasing reliance on the community that the project�s success will continue to grow. We won�t outspend the proprietary software industry. As a community, though, we are very much more than Microsoft and its allies can afford.

Source of Information : Prentice Hall The official Ubuntu Book 5th Edition 2010   

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 the many successes of the Debian project while solving some of the problems it struggles with. The goal is to create a synthetic whole that appeals to users who had previously been unable or unwilling to use Debian.

In building off the great work of the Debian project, as well as GNU, Linux, and other projects that Debian is built on, the Ubuntu team wanted to explore a new style of derivation that focused on a tighter interproject relationship within an ecosystem of different developers. While Ubuntu tries to improve and build on Debian�s success, the project is in no way trying to replace Debian. On the contrary, Ubuntu couldn�t exist without the Debian project and its large volunteer and software base, as well as the high degree of quality that Debian consistently provides. This symbiotic relationship between Ubuntu and Debian is mirrored in the way that both Ubuntu and Debian depend heavily on projects such as GNU and Linux to produce great software, which they can each package and distribute. The Ubuntu project sets out explicitly to build a symbiotic relationship with both Debian and their common �upstream.�

The relationship between Ubuntu and Debian has not been simple, straightforward, or painless and has involved patience and learning on both sides. While the relationship has yet to be perfected, with time it has improved consistently, and both groups have found ways to work together that seem to offer major benefits over the traditional derive and forget model. It is through a complex series of technological, social, and even political processes�that Ubuntu tries to create a better way to build a free software distribution.

Source of Information : Prentice Hall The official Ubuntu Book 5th Edition 2010