Fedora (operating system)

infobox OS
name = Fedora



caption = Fedora 9 running GNOME
developer = Fedora Project
family = Linux, Unix-like
source_model = Various
working_state = Current
released = 2003-11-16
latest_release_version = 9
latest_release_date = release date|2008|05|13cite news | url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/2008-May/msg00007.html | title=The Prophecy of the 9 comes true (Fedora 9 walks the earth!) | author=Jesse Keating | publisher=Fedora Project | date=2008-05-13 | accessdate=2008-05-13 ]
latest_test_version = 10
latest_test_date = release date|2008|9|9 [ cite news | url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/2008-September/msg00000.html | title=Re: Fedora 10 Beta Freeze coming soon | author=Jesse Keating | accessdate=2008-03-27 ]
kernel_type = Monolithic kernel
ui = GNOME
license = Various
website = [http://fedoraproject.org/ fedoraproject.org]
updatemodel = Yum, Anaconda
package_manager = RPM Package Manager
supported_platforms = x86, X86-64, PowerPCThe Fedora operating system is an RPM-based, general purpose Linux distribution, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project and sponsored by Red Hat. Fedora's mission statement is: "Fedora is about the rapid progress of Free and Open Source software."cite web |url=http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/17/177220 | title=Fedora Project Leader Max Spevack Responds | accessdate=2006-12-17|author=Max Spevack]

One of Fedora's main objectives is not only to contain free and open source software, but also to be on the leading edge of such technologies.cite web | url=http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Objectives | title=Fedora Project Objectives | accessdate=2007-02-12 | date=2006-12-19] Also, developers in Fedora prefer to make upstream changes instead of applying fixes specifically for Fedora — this ensures that updates are available to all Linux distributions. [ cite news | url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/2008-May/msg00006.html | title=Fedora 9 | author=Paul W. Frields | publisher=Fedora Project | date=2008-05-12 | accessdate=2008-07-27 ]

Linus Torvalds, original creator of the Linux Kernel, says he uses Fedora because it had fairly good support for PowerPC back when he used that, and grew used to it.cite web |url=http://linuxpoison.blogspot.com/2008/07/linus-torvalds-uses-fedora-core-9.html | title=Linus Torvalds uses Fedora 9 | date=2008-06-22 | accessdate=2008-9-10|author=Nikesh Jauhari]

History

The Fedora Project was created in late 2003, when Red Hat Linux was discontinued. cite news |url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/rhl-list/2003-September/msg00064.html | title=Fedora Project: Announcing New Direction | date=2003-09-22 | accessdate=2007-10-18 ] Red Hat Enterprise Linux was to be Red Hat's only officially supported Linux distribution, while Fedora was to be a community distribution. Red Hat Enterprise Linux branches its releases from versions of Fedora. [ cite web | url=http://www.redhat.com/magazine/022aug06/features/fedora_rhel_4/ | title=The Fedora Project and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, part 4 | date=2006-08-22 | accessdate=2007-10-18 ]

The name of Fedora derives from Fedora Linux, a volunteer project that provided extra software for the Red Hat Linux distribution, and from the characteristic fedora used in Red Hat's "Shadowman" logo. Fedora Linux was eventually absorbed into the Fedora Project. [cite web | url=http://web.archive.org/web/20030219051938/www.fedora.us/fedora.html | title=Fedora Network Proposal | accessdate=2006-07-28] Fedora is a trademark of Red Hat. Although this has previously been disputed by the creators of the Fedora repository management software, the issue has now been resolved. [cite web | url=http://fedora.info/redHat.shtml | title=Red Hat Inc.'s Use of The Fedora Name | accessdate=2006-07-28]

Features

Distribution

The Fedora Project distributes Fedora in several different ways: [ cite web | url=http://docs.fedoraproject.org/install-guide/f8/en_US/ch-new-users.html#sn-howto-download | title=New Users – How Do I Download Installation Files? | author=Fedora Project | accessdate=2007-11-18 ]
* Fedora DVD – a DVD of all major Fedora packages at time of shipping;
* Live images – CD or DVD sized images that can be used to create a Live CD or install Fedora on a USB flash drive;
* Minimal CD or USB image – used for installing over HTTP, FTP or NFS [ cite web | url=http://docs.fedoraproject.org/install-guide/f8/en_US/ch-other-install-methods.html | title=Alternative Install Methods | author=Fedora Project | accessdate=2007-11-18 ]
* Rescue CD or USB image – used if some part of the system has failed and needs to be fixed, or for installing over the Internet.

The Fedora Project also distributes custom variations of Fedora which are called Fedora spins. [ [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/CustomSpins CustomSpins - Fedora Project Wiki ] ] These are built from a specific set of software packages and have a combination of software to meet the requirements of a specific kind of end user. Fedora spins are developed by several Fedora special interest groups.cite web | url=http://spins.fedoraproject.org | title= Custom Spins | author=Fedora Project | date=2007-11-19 | accessdate=2007-11-19 ] It is also possible to create Live USB versions of Fedora using Fedora Live USB creator or UNetbootin.

Software package management is primarily handled by the yum utility. cite web | url=http://docs.fedoraproject.org/yum/en/sn-software-management-tools.html | title=Software Management Tools in Fedora Core | author=Stuart Ellis | accessdate=2007-11-18 ] Graphical interfaces, such as "pirut" and "pup" are provided, as well as "puplet", which provides visual notifications in the panel when updates are available. apt-rpm is an alternative to yum, and may be more familiar to people used to Debian or Debian-based distributions, where Advanced Packaging Tool is used to manage packages. [ cite web | url=http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Tools/Apt | title=APT and Fedora | author=Fedora Project | accessdate=2007-11-18 ] Additionally, extra repositories can be added to the system, so that packages not available in Fedora can be installed. [ cite web | url=http://docs.fedoraproject.org/yum/en/sn-using-repositories.html | title=Using Repositories | author=Stuart Ellis | accessdate=2007-11-18 ]

oftware repositories

Before Fedora 7, there were two main repositories – Core and Extras. Fedora Core contained all the base packages that were required by the operating system, as well as other packages that were distributed along with the installation CD/DVDs, and was maintained only by Red Hat developers. Fedora Extras, the secondary repository that was included from Fedora Core 3, was community-maintained and not distributed along with the installation CD/DVDs. Since Fedora 7, the Core and Extras repositories have been merged, hence the distribution's dropping the "Core" from its name. [cite news | url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-January/msg00091.html |title= Fedora 7 |accessdate=2007-01-17] That also allowed for community submissions of packages that were formerly allowed only by Red Hat developers.

Also prior to Fedora 7 being released, there was a third repository called Fedora Legacy. This repository was community-maintained and was mainly concerned with extending the life cycle of older Fedora Core distributions and selected Red Hat Linux releases that were no longer officially maintained. cite web | url=http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Legacy | title=Fedora Legacy | author=Fedora Project | accessdate=2007-11-18 ] Fedora Legacy was shut down in December 2006. [ cite news | url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-legacy-list/2006-December/msg00049.html | title=Fedora Legacy shutting down | author=David Eisenstein | date=2006-12-29 | accessdate=2007-11-18 ]

ecurity features

One of the security features in Fedora is Security-Enhanced Linux, a Linux feature that implements a variety of security policies, including mandatory access controls, through the use of Linux Security Modules (LSM) in the Linux kernel. Fedora is one of the distributions leading the way with SELinux. [cite web | url=http://w3.linux-magazine.com/issue/69/Access_Control_with_SELinux.pdf | title=Mandatory Access Control with SELinux | accessdate=2007-10-07 ] SELinux was introduced in Fedora Core 2. It was disabled by default, as it radically altered how the operating system worked, but was enabled by default in Fedora Core 3 and introduced a less strict, "targeted" policy.cite web|url=http://docs.fedoraproject.org/release-notes/fc2/x86/ |title=Fedora Core 2 Release Notes | accessdate=2007-10-19] cite web|url=http://docs.fedoraproject.org/release-notes/fc3/x86/ |title=Fedora Core 3 Release Notes | accessdate=2007-10-19]

Fedora also has methods in place to prevent some buffer overflow exploits and root kits from functioning. Compile time buffer checks, Exec Shield and restrictions on how kernel memory in /dev/mem can be accessed help to prevent this.cite web|url=http://docs.fedoraproject.org/release-notes/fc1/x86/ |title=Fedora Core 1 Release Notes | accessdate=2007-10-19]

Releases

Fedora Core 1–4

"Fedora Core 1" was the first version of Fedora and was released on 2003-11-06. [ cite news | url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/2003-November/msg00000.html | title=Announcing Fedora Core 1 | author=Red Hat | date=2003-11-06 | accessdate=2007-10-18 ] It was codenamed Yarrow. Fedora Core 1 was based on Red Hat Linux 9 and shipped with version 2.4.19 of the Linux kernel, version 2.4 of the GNOME desktop environment, and version 3.1.4 of KDE (the K Desktop Environment).

"Fedora Core 2" was released on May 18 2004, codenamed Tettnang. cite news | url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/2004-May/msg00010.html | title=Presenting Fedora Core 2 | author=Red Hat | date=2004-05-18 | accessdate=2007-10-18 ] It shipped with Linux 2.6, GNOME 2.6, KDE 3.2.2, and SELinux (SELinux was disabled by default due to concerns that it radically altered the way that Fedora Core ran). XFree86 was replaced by the newer X.org, a merger of the previous official X11R6 release, which additionally included a number of updates to Xrender, Xft, Xcursor, fontconfig libraries, and other significant improvements.

"Fedora Core 3" was released on November 8 2004, codenamed Heidelberg. cite news | url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/2004-November/msg00002.html | title=Announcing the release of Fedora Core 3 | author=Red Hat | date=2004-11-08 | accessdate=2007-10-18 ] This was the first release of Fedora Core to include the Mozilla Firefox web browser, as well as support for the Indic languages. This release also saw the LILO boot loader deprecated in favour of GRUB. SELinux was also enabled by default, but with a new targeted policy, which was less strict than the policy used in Fedora Core 2. Fedora Core 3 shipped with GNOME 2.8 and KDE 3.3. It was the first release to include the new Fedora Extras repository.

"Fedora Core 4" was released on June 13 2005, with the codename Stentz. cite news | url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/2005-June/msg00010.html | title=The Amazing Fedora Core 4! | author=Fedora Project | date=2005-06-13 | accessdate=2007-11-18 ] It shipped with Linux 2.6.11, KDE 3.4 and GNOME 2.10.cite web|url=http://docs.fedoraproject.org/release-notes/fc4/ | title=Fedora Core 4 Release Notes | publisher=Fedora Project | accessdate=2007-11-18] This version introduced the new Clearlooks theme, which was inspired by the Red Hat Bluecurve theme. It also shipped with the OpenOffice.org 2.0 office suite, as well as Xen, a high performance and secure open source virtualization framework. It also introduced support for the PowerPC CPU architecture, and over 80 new policies for SELinux.

None of these distributions are maintained by the Fedora Project. cite web | url=http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases | title=Releases | author=Fedora Project | accessdate=2008-06-23 ]

Fedora Core 5–6

The last two cores introduced specific artwork that defined them. This is a trend that has continued in later Fedora versions.

"Fedora Core 5" was released on March 20 2006, with the codename Bordeaux, and introduced the Fedora Bubbles artwork. cite news | url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/2006-March/msg00027.html | title=Announcing the release of Fedora Core 5 | date=2006-03-20 | accessdate=2007-10-18 ] It was the first Fedora release to include Mono and tools built with it such as Beagle, F-Spot and Tomboy. It also introduced new package management tools such as pup and pirut ("see Yellow dog Updater, Modified"). It also was the first Fedora release not to include the long deprecated (but kept for compatibility) LinuxThreads, replaced by the Native POSIX Thread Library. [ cite web | url=http://docs.fedoraproject.org/release-notes/fc5/release-notes-ISO/#id3083554 | title=Fedora Core 5 Release Notes | accessdate=2007-10-18 ]

"Fedora Core 6" was released on October 24 2006, codenamed Zod. [ cite news | url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/2006-October/msg00008.html | title=Announcing Fedora Core 6 (Zod) | author=Fedora Project | date=2006-10-24 | accessdate=2007-10-18 ] This release introduced the Fedora DNA artwork, replacing the Fedora Bubbles artwork used in Fedora Core 5. cite web | url=http://docs.fedoraproject.org/release-notes/fc6/en_US/sn-OverView.html#id2974245 | title=Fedora Core 6 Release Notes | author=Fedora Project | accessdate=2007-10-18 ] The codename is derived from the infamous villain, General Zod, from the Superman DC Comic Books. [ cite web | url=http://www.redhat.com/magazine/024oct06/features/fsr/ | title=Fedora status report: Announcing Zod | author=Red Hat | accessdate=2007-10-18 ] This version introduced support for the Compiz compositing window manager and AIGLX (a technology that enables GL-accelerated effects on a standard desktop). It shipped with Firefox 1.5 as the default web browser, and Smolt, a tool that allows users to inform developers about the hardware they use.

Neither of these distributions are maintained by the Fedora Project. cite web | url=http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases | title=Releases | author=Fedora Project | accessdate=2008-06-23 ]

Fedora 7

Fedora 7, codenamed Moonshine, was released on May 31 2007. cite news | url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/2007-May/msg00009.html | title=Announcing Fedora 7 (Moonshine) | author=Fedora Project | date=2007-05-31 | accessdate=2007-11-07 ] The biggest difference between Fedora Core 6 and Fedora 7 was the merging of the Red Hat "Core" and Community "Extras" repositories, and the new build system put in place to manage those packages. This release used entirely new build and compose tools that enabled the user to create fully-customized Fedora distributions that could also include packages from any third party provider.

There are three official "spins" available for Fedora 7: cite web | url=http://docs.fedoraproject.org/release-notes/f7/en_US/sn-OverView.html | author=Fedora Project | title=Fedora 7 Release Highlights | accessdate=2007-11-18 ]
* Live – two Live CDs (one for GNOME and one for KDE);
* Fedora – a DVD that includes all the major packages available at shipping;
* Everything – simply an installation tree for use by yum and Internet installations.

Fedora 7 features GNOME 2.18 and KDE 3.5.6, a new theme entitled "Flying High" and Firefox 2.0. Fast user switching is, for the first time, fully integrated and enabled by default. Also, there were a number of updates to SELinux, including a new "setroubleshoot" tool for debugging SELinux security notifications, and a new, comprehensive "system-config-selinux" tool for fine-tuning the SELinux setup. As of 2008-06-13, Fedora 7 was no longer supported by the Fedora Project. [ cite news | url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/2008-April/msg00013.html | title=Fedora 7 End of Life | author=Paul W. Frields | publisher=Fedora Project | date=2008-04-29 | accessdate=2008-06-23 ]

Fedora 8

Fedora 8, codenamed Werewolf, was released on 8 November 2007. [cite web | url=http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/Schedule | title=Fedora Project Release Schedule | accessdate=2007-10-07]

Some of the new features and updates in Fedora 8 include: cite web | url=http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/8/ReleaseSummary | title=Fedora 8 Release Summary | date=2007-11-07 | accessdate=2007-11-07 ]
* "PulseAudio" – a sound daemon that allows different applications to control the audio. Fedora is the first distribution to enable it by default.
* "system-config-firewall" – a new firewall configuration tool that replaces system-config-securitylevel from previous releases.
* "Codeina" – a tool that guides users using content under proprietary or patent encumbered formats to purchase codecs from fluendo; it is an optional component that may be uninstalled in favor of Gstreamer codec plug-ins from Livna which are free of charge.
* "IcedTea" – a project that attempts to bring OpenJDK to Fedora by replacing encumbered code.
* "NetworkManager" – faster, more reliable connections; better security (through the use of the keyring); clearer display of wireless networks; better D-Bus integration.
* "Better laptop support" – enhancements to the kernel to reduce battery load, disabling of background cron jobs when running on the battery, and additional wireless drivers.

Fedora 8 also includes a new desktop artwork entitled "Infinity", and a new desktop theme called "Nodoka". A unique feature of Infinity is that the wallpaper can change during the day to reflect the time of day.

In February 2008, a new Xfce Live CD "spin" was announced for the x86 and x86-64 architectures. cite news | url=http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/2008-February/msg00005.html | title=Announcing Fedora 8 Xfce Spin | author=Rahul Sundaram | publisher=Fedora Project | date=2008-02-13 | accessdate=2008-05-17 ] This Live CD version uses the Xfce desktop environment, which aims to be fast and lightweight, while still being visually appealing and easy to use. Like the GNOME and KDE spins, the Xfce spin can be installed to the hard disk.

Fedora 9

Fedora 9, codenamed "Sulphur", was released on 13 May 2008.

Some of the new features of Fedora 9 include: [ cite web | url=http://docs.fedoraproject.org/release-notes/f9preview/en_US/sn-OverView.html | title=Fedora 9 Release Notes | publisher=Fedora Project | accessdate=2008-05-13 ]

* "GNOME 2.22".
* "KDE 4", which is the default interface as part of the KDE spin.
* "OpenJDK 6" has replaced IcedTea. [cite web
url=http://langel.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/openjdk-in-fedora-9/
title=OpenJDK to replace IcedTea in Fedora 9
last=Angel|first=Lillian
date=2008-03-13
accessdate=2008-04-05] [cite web
url=http://developer.redhatmagazine.com/2008/03/12/openjdk-to-replace-icedtea-in-fedora-9/
title=OpenJDK in Fedora 9!
last=Wade|first=Karsten
publisher=redhatmagazine.com
quote="Thomas Fitzsimmons updated the Fedora 9 release notes source pages to reflect that Fedora 9 would ship with OpenJDK 6 instead of the IcedTea implementation of OpenJDK 7. Fedora 9 (Sulphur) is due to release in May 2008."
date=2008-03-13
accessdate=2008-04-05]
* "PackageKit" is included as a front-end to yum, and as the default package manager.
* "One Second X" allows the X Window System to perform a cold start from the command line in nearly one second; similarly, shutdown of X should be as quick. [ cite web | url=http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/OneSecondX | title=One Second X | publisher=Fedora Project | accessdate=2008-05-09 ]
* Many improvements to the Anaconda installer; [ cite web | url=http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/9/Beta/ReleaseNotes#head-eaadbfea30e5d3ca0b72a51953519d6f8fd53d3c | title=Fedora 9 (Beta) Release Notes | publisher=Fedora Project | accessdate=2008-01-04 ] among these features, it now supports resizing ext2, ext3 and NTFS file systems, and can create and install Fedora to encrypted file systems.
* Firefox 3.0 beta 5 is included in this release, and the 3.0 package was released as an update the same day as the general release.
* "Perl 5.10.0", which features a smaller memory footprint and other improvements.
* Data Persistence in USB images [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FedoraLiveCD/USBHowTo]

Fedora 9 features a new artwork entitled "Waves" which, like "Infinity" in Fedora 8, changes the wallpaper to reflect the time of day.

Fedora 10

Fedora 10, codenamed "Cambridge", is set for release on 25 November 2008. cite web | url=http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/10/Schedule?oldid=50362 | title=Fedora 10 Release Schedule | publisher=The Fedora Project | date=2008-09-24 | accessdate=2008-09-25 ] Planned features include a web based package installer similar to Linux Mint's, a faster startup using Plymouth instead of Red Hat Graphical Boot, [ [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/10/Alpha/ReleaseNotes#Boot_up Plymouth-new boot up system] ] better webcam support, GNOME 2.24, KDE 4.1 and RPM 4.6.

Version history

{| class="wikitable"
-!Project Name!Version!Code name!Release date
-! rowspan="6"| Fedora Core
style="background-color:#fa8072;" | 1
Yarrow
2003-11-05
-
style="background-color:#fa8072;" | [http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/2/ 2]
Tettnang
2004-05-18
-
style="background-color:#fa8072;" | [http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/3/ 3]
Heidelberg
2004-11-08
-
style="background-color:#fa8072;" | [http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/4/ 4]
Stentz
2005-06-13
-
style="background-color:#fa8072;" | [http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/5/ 5]
Bordeaux
2006-03-20
-
style="background-color:#fa8072;" | [http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/6/ 6]
Zod
2006-10-24
-! rowspan="4" | Fedora
style="background-color:#fa8072;" | [http://torrent.fedoraproject.org/ 7]
Moonshine
2007-05-31
-
style="background-color:#f0e68c;" | [http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/publiclist/Fedora/8/ 8]
Werewolf
2007-11-08
-
style="background-color:#A0E75A;" | [http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/publiclist/Fedora/9/ 9]
Sulphur
2008-05-13
-
style="background-color:#87CEEB;" | [http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/publiclist/Fedora/development/ 10]
[http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/Rawhide Cambridge (Rawhide)]
2008-11-25 (to be confirmed)

Fedora gallery

Fedora-based distributions

:Source: "DistroWatch"
* ASPLinux – a Russian Fedora based distribution which includes its own installer. ASPLinux also includes closed source NVIDIA and ATI drivers, and supports proprietary audio and video codecs.
* Aurora SPARC Linux – for the SPARC platform
* Berry Linux – a medium-sized Fedora based distribution that provides support for Japanese and English.
* BLAG Linux and GNU – a stripped down 1-CD Fedora with Debian's APT system
* Eeedora – for the Asus Eee PC
* Ekaaty – from Brazil
* Fox Linux – made in Italy, designed for basic home computing tasks such as browsing the Web, writing and printing documents, using multimedia and burning discs.
* Linpus
* Linux XP – a commercial Linux distribution aimed at replacing Windows XP as a home-use desktop operating system.
* MythDora – based around MythTV's media center capabilities.
* Red Hat Enterprise Linux – enterprise Linux offering from Red Hat, which branches from the current Fedora baseline.
* Yellow Dog Linux – for the PowerPC platform.
* Vixta – focuses on easy-to-use Linux, with a custom KDE interface that resembles Windows Vista.

ee also

* Fedora Project
* Livna
* Red Hat Linux

References

External links

* [http://fedoraproject.org/ Fedora Project homepage]
** [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/International International Fedora Project sites]
*
* [http://blogs.securiteam.com/index.php/archives/1130 "Fedora confirms: Our servers were breached" (SecuriTeam Blogs)]