Fedora 6 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Bible

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.

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 Core 6, major features include improvements to the installer to support multiple software repositories, experimental 3D desktop effects with AIGLX, and Xen virtualization improvements. New features for managing Global File Systems (GFS) and clusters were added to Fedora to be shaken out for RHEL. You can get your hands on the latest of those and many other new Linux features before they go into commercial Linux products.

• Software packaging - Red Hat, Inc. created the RPM Package Management (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 Package Updater, 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.

  Cross-Reference

  Chapter 5 describes how to install RPM packages and use yum repositories.

• Easy installation - The Fedora installation process (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 your video card, user accounts, and even your network connection.

  Cross-Reference

  Chapter 2 covers Fedora Core installation.

• 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 use 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. Chapter 12 describes how to use runlevel scripts.

• Desktop environments (GNOME and KDE) - To make it easier to use Linux, Fedora and RHEL come 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 KDE Control Center for configuring the desktop.

• Desktop look-and-feel - With the latest Fedora release, Fedora Core is establishing a strong visual representation that includes new Fedora themes that offer the Fedora logo on screensavers, backgrounds, login screens, and other desktop elements.

• 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. (Prior to Fedora Core 2, many of these GUI administration tools were launched from commands that began with redhat-config-*. Now, those commands have been renamed to start with system-config-* .)

  Note

  There are advantages and disadvantages of using a GUI-based program to manipulate text-based configuration files. GUI-based configuration tools can lead you through a setup procedure and error-check the information you enter. However, some features can't be accessed through the GUI, and if something goes wrong, it can be trickier to debug. With Linux, you have the command-line options available as well as the GUI administration tools.

• Testing - The exact configuration that you get on the Fedora or RHEL distribution has been thoroughly tested by experts around the world. The simple fact that a software package is included in Fedora Core or other Red Hat Linux distributions is an indication that Red Hat and the community that supports Fedora and RHEL believe it has achieved a certain level of quality. By opening testing of early versions of Fedora to the open source community, many more bugs have been uncovered and fixed than might otherwise have been the case.

• Automatic updates - The software packages that make up Fedora Core are constantly being fixed in various ways. To provide a mechanism for the automatic selection, download, and installation of updated software packages, Red Hat created several different facilities.

  For officially supported Red Hat Enterprise Linux distributions, the Red Hat Network provides a focal point for software updates. Using the up2date command, as an RHEL user you can receive critical security fixes and patches very simply over the Internet.

  With the addition of yum software repositories on the Internet that include Fedora Core packages, whole sets of RPM software packages can be updated with a single yum update command. In Fedora Core 6, a new Package Manager window and Package Updater (Pup) window provide the first graphical tools with Fedora to install from multiple software repositories on the Internet (as opposed to local CD or DVD media). Pup, in particular, can be used to easily get the latest software enhancements and fixes. See Chapter 5 for descriptions of these tools.