What Is Fedora?

Fedora is the natural successor to Red Hat Linux and incorporates many of the features and software tools included with previous Red Hat Linux distributions. Red Hat Linux spawned many imitators in the Linux world in the past decade, and many of these imitators have gone on to create credible products and distributions.

As you learn in this chapter, Fedora is one of the most up-to-date Linux distributions available on the Internet. Here, you see why Fedora can be a good choice for a variety of computing environments and how, when combined with advances provided by the latest Linux kernel, it can provide support for a range of users from the academic, home, small business, and up to corporate users.

Inside Fedora Core

A complete copy of the Fedora distribution requires eight CD-ROMs, but only the first four are necessary for a full install of the operating system. Half of the distribution consists of source code for all the included software. More than 1,450 separate software packages are in Fedora Core. This distribution comprises the Linux kernel, installation utilities, thousands of pages of documentation, several thousand fonts, a comprehensive graphical networking interface, and several thousand individual commands and clients.

Fedora provides a base, or core, framework operating system and desktop comprised entirely of free software. Fedora includes the Bluecurve desktop theme and has an improved consistency in the two major graphical desktops available for use: the GNU Network Object Model Environment and the K Desktop Environment (KDE).

You can expect an extensive amount of Linux software to be supported by Fedora, and it is eventually expected to have an extensive library of contributed software packages outside the Fedora Core release. This means your first four Fedora Core CD-ROMs or DVD are just the beginning of a large collection of Linux software!

Note

Read more about GNOME and KDE in Chapter 6, "The X Window System."

Fedora provides the latest version of the X Window System and its server, X11R7, which sports improved and integral font handling. The Linux desktop has never looked better, and you will notice the difference when you browse the Web, use one of the dozen or so word processors and text editors included with Fedora, or view text at the command line in a terminal window.

If you are a veteran Red Hat user, you will feel at home with Fedora because it includes Red Hat's comprehensive suite of graphical administrative programs. The tools, shown in Table 1.1, combine and expand on the capabilities of standard Linux system utilities and are intended for use by the root operator (known as the super-user) to administer a Fedora system. The software takes the place of (and in some cases upgrades and augments) many of the legacy command-line-based tools traditionally used on a UNIX system. You will learn how to use these tools throughout this book.

Table 1.1. Red Hat Software Tools Included with Fedora Core Graphical Administration Tools

Name	Description
neat	Creates, edits, and manages network devices
system-config-authentication	Manages user information and authentication protocol
system-config-bind	Configures Domain Name Service
system-config-boot	Manages boot loading
system-config-date	Sets date and time zone
system-config-display	Configures X to work with your PC hardware
system-config-httpd	Apache web server administration
system-config-keyboard	Configures keyboard type
system-config-kickstart	Creates automated install script
system-config-language	Sets system language
system-config-mouse	Configures mouse type and features
system-config-netboot	Configures network booting
system-config-network	Manages system network devices and settings
system-config-nfs	Configures Network File System (NFS)
system-config-packages	Manages system software
system-config-printer	Creates, edits, and manages printers
system-config-proc	Manages kernel settings and processes
system-config-rootpassword	Sets and changes root password
system-config-samba	Manages a Session Message Block (SMB) server
system-config-securitylevel	Configures firewall service
system-config-services	Starts, stops, restarts, or sets boot services
system-config-soundcard	Configures Fedora for sound
system-config-time	Sets system date and time zone
system-config-users	Manages system users
system-switch-mail	Toggles use of Sendmail or Postfix email services

Fedora includes Internet programs such as Mozilla's open-source web browser, Firefox, along with productivity applications such as Ximian's Evolution (a mail, contact, and calendaring client) and OpenOffice.org (a Microsoft-compatible open-source office suite). You'll find all these and many more applications on this book's DVD.

Other major features are the inclusion of the latest GNU gcc compiler system, supporting C/C++ language program development. You will also get the newest version of the Apache web server, and the Common Unix Printing System (CUPS), which supports more than a thousand different printers.

Fedora, as the next generation of Red Hat Linux, is slated for upgrades two or three times a year, according to The Fedora Project. In reality, however, work never ceases on the distribution because open source developers, along with Red Hat engineers, cross-pollinate Red Hat's Enterprise Linux and Fedora with software package upgrades, security updates, and bug fixes. Fedora's free, online upgrade system will be available via the Internet.

Red Hat uses a 12- to 18-month release cycle for Enterprise Linux. This cycle is required to provide third-party application developers time to test, deploy, and market products. In the past, Red Hat has used a 6-month release schedule for the consumer version of Red Hat Linux, with a 3- to 4-month beta cycle for development and testing. Fedora will have a similar schedule; The Fedora Project has stated it intends to "produce time-based releases of Fedora Core about two to three times a year."

As a Fedora user, you will be able to obtain the latest software for your system at any time using a variety of commands and software management tools:

yum The Yellowdog Updater, Modified, an automated software package manager based on RPM technology that resolves RPM dependencies.

pirut Fedora's graphical package manager, it is used to install or remove applications (refer to Table 1.1).

rpm The Red Hat Package Manager, which uses a database of installed packages to manage software on your system.

Distribution Version and Kernel Numbering Schema

There is a specific numbering system for Linux kernels, kernel development, and Fedora's kernel versions. Note that these numbers bear no relation to the version number of your Fedora Linux distribution. Fedora distribution version numbers are assigned by The Fedora Project, whereas most of the Linux kernel version numbers are assigned by Linus Torvalds and his legion of kernel developers.

To see the date your Linux kernel was compiled, use the uname command with its -v commandline option. To see the version of your Linux kernel, use the -r option. The numbers, such as 2.6.12-1, represent the major version (2), minor version (6), and patch level (12). The final number, (1), is the developer patch level and is assigned by The Fedora Project.

Even minor numbers are considered "stable" and generally fit for use in production environments, whereas odd minor numbers (such as a Linux 2.7 source tree) represent versions of the Linux kernel under development and testing. You will find only stable versions of the Linux kernel included with this book. You can choose to download and install a beta (test) version of the kernel, but this is not recommended for a system destined for everyday use. Most often, beta kernels are installed to provide support and testing of new hardware or operating system features.

Features of the Fedora Install

Installing Fedora can be accomplished in a number of ways. Many new users choose to simply boot from the first CD-ROM or from the DVD. The Fedora installer, named Anaconda (because it is written in the Python programming language), provides a default graphical interface for the installation process. The installer can be used to perform various initial actions before proceeding to an install, such as

• Testing the installation media Useful for testing the integrity of your copies of the Fedora CD-ROMs/DVD. If you download .iso images of the Fedora CDs or DVD, you can also use an MD5SUM client to compare the prepublished checksums for the media against your .iso files.

• Testing your PC's memory Useful for ensuring that your PC is in good form with functioning memory. Linux will use every available byte of RAM, and you should ensure that you do not run into problems after the operating system is installed.

• Updating the installer before the install In some cases, you might need to use the latest version of the installer to work around a bug or problematic hardware, and this option can be used to use a new version of the installer even though it is not on the CD-ROM or DVD.

• Rescuing the system In instances where a boot loader configuration has failed, or for some reason the system will not boot, the installer can be used to boot to a rescue mode; the existing file system can then be mounted and data can be rescued or the system reconfigured to resolve the problem.

• Specifying hardware workarounds Various options at the installer command line can be used to get around problematic or unsupported hardware posing an obstacle to your install.

• Specifying an install method Fedora Core can be installed from a hard drive partition or over a network using FTP, NFS, HTTP, or virtual networking.

See Chapter 3, "Installing Fedora," for specific details about various installer options.

Fedora's installation process also allows you to install Linux in a variety of ways, using a text-based or graphical interface. See Chapter 2, "Preparing to Install Fedora," for some important considerations to help you prepare to install Fedora. See Chapter 3 to learn how to install using a CD-ROM/DVD, a hard drive, or a network.

Fedora File System Features

Fedora also uses the ext3 file system, developed by Dr. Stephen C. Tweedie and used by Red Hat's Enterprise Linux products. ext3 supports a form of low-level storage data handling known as journaling, previously available only under very expensive computer platforms. Journaling is accomplished using a variety of techniques, but the end result aims to ensure that data remains intact on the disk despite a system crash, a power outage, or other mishap.

However, because Fedora is designed to be flexible and accommodating of all new Linux technologies, you can use other file systems for your workstation or server. This includes IBM JFS, a journaled file system designed for servers and used on many enterprise-level platforms. If you want to take advantage of fast restarts and enjoy good performance and reliability, JFS can be used as an alternative to ext3. However, ext3 offers benefits such as quick switching between legacy ext2 file systems and widespread use in the Linux community.

Note

More information about IBM's JFS file system for Linux can be found at http://oss.software.ibm.com/jfs/.

Note

Read Dr. Stephen Tweedie's presentation, "EXT3, Journaling File System," at http://olstrans.sourceforge.net/release/OLS2000-ext3/OLS2000-ext3.html for more details.

Other journaling file systems should be supported by Fedora (such as reiserfs) and have similar features.

Fedora also supports the creation of large RAID arrays, both via software using one or more storage devices and using hardware with specific device controllers. You can also use logical volume management (LVM), a sophisticated file system handling feature that allows parts of the file system (directory layout) to span one or more portions of separate physical storage media. This feature also allows resizing of the resulting partitions if system resource requirements change after initial configuration, and while the pertinent file systems are unmounted or mounted.

Other benefits of using Fedora are the inclusion of digital signature verification of RPM packages (for enhanced security), RPM package dependency resolution suggestion (to more easily fix dependency diagnosis), and the privoxy server (to help filter out unwanted web page pop-ups and so on).