FEDORA CORE 5



Are you ready to try on a new Fedora? Back in 2003, when Red Hat stepped into the era of the enterprise, they created the Fedora project as a means of continuing their support for community-based, no-cost Linux. They have continued to nurture Fedora ever since, using it as a place for testing new technologies that will one day make their way into Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Fedora appeals to all users who are looking for Red Hat core components without the cost. The arrival of Fedora Core 5 puts a crop of new tools and many new useful features into the hat. We are proud to bring you Fedora Core 5 as this month's Linux Magazine DVD.

Desktop

Fedora Core 5 comes with the Gnome 2.14 and KDE 3.5 desktop environments. The default Gnome interface provides significant performance improvements over previous versions. You'll also find new management utilities for the graphical desktop, including the Pup system update tool and the Pirut package manager. This DVD comes with recent versions of standard Linux desktop applications, such as OpenOffice.org 2.02 and Firefox 1.5. Other additions include applications such as the Tomboy note-taking tool and the F-Spot photo manager.

The latest Fedora provides built-in support for the Mono development framework, providing a means for easily integrating the growing collection of Mono-based Linux applications, such as the Beagle search utility, which is included in Fedora 5.

Security

This version of Fedora includes improvements to the built-in firewall configuration tools, as well as a new, standardized reference policy for the SELinux security framework. Developers can use the enhancements to SELinux to create site-specific custom security policies. The stack protector included with GCC 4.1 offers better protection against buffer overflows. You'll also find support for LUKS hard disk encryption and role-based access control.

System Administration

Fedora makes a point of highlighting improvements to the Xen virtualization tool. Fedora Core 5 comes with Xen 3.0, as well new Xen management tools.

Also improved is the well known Anaconda installer. Anaconda is now integrated with the Yum package manager for more effective package installation.

Fedora 5 includes Apache 2.2, Bind 9.3.2, Sendmail 8.13.5, MySQL 5.0, and PostgreSQL 8.1. New management tools include the SystemTap instrumentation system, a performance analysis tool. You'll also find system-config-cluster, a GUI-based utility for managing clusters, and Frysk, a tool for monitoring system processes and threads.

Try It!

Fedora Core 5 is a major advance in the development of Fedora. This version of Fedora delivers new and better tools for security, system administration, graphics, and everyday office productivity. We hope you enjoy Linux Magazine's Fedora Core 5 DVD.

System Requirements

Processor: Pentium class; Graphics mode, 400 Mhz or better; Text mode, 200 Mhz or better; Fedora Core 5 is optimized for the Pentium 4 CPU.

Memory: Graphics mode, 192 MB min/256 MB recommended; Text mode: 128 MB min.

Hard Disk: Varies depending on configuration and installation options. The total package set requires approximately 9 GB.

Figure 1: Pirut provides an easy GUI for managing packages.

Figure 2: Keep your system up-to-date with the Pup package updater.

Figure 3: The F-Spot photo manager helps you organize digital images.

Figure 4: You can organize your notes with the Tomboy note-taking tool.
Help & Support

For more information on installing and using this DVD, see the box titled "Additional Resources." Other useful sources for technical assistance include the Fedora Forum http://www.fedoraforum.org/, the Unofficial Fedora FAQ http://www.fedorafaq.org/, the Unofficial Fedora Starter Guide http://easylinux.info/wiki/Fedora_fc5, and the LinuxQuestions.org Fedora Forum http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/forumdisplay.php?forumid=35.

Highlights

Linux Kernel 2.6.16

KDE 3.5.1

Gnome 2.14

Cairo 1.0.2

GCC 4.1

Mono 1.1.13

glibc 2.4

Gimp 2.2.10

OpenOffice 2.0.2

Evolution 2.6

Firefox 1.5

K3b 0.12.10

Evince 0.5.1

Perl 5.8.8

Python 2.4.2

Xen 3.0.1

Apache 2.2

Samba 3.0.2

Sendmail 8.13.5

MySQL 5.0

PostgreSQL 8.1

Additional Resources

[1] Feodora Project: http://fedora.redhat.com/

[2] Fedora Project Wiki: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/

[3] Fedora Official Documentation http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/documentation-guide/